PEABODY, Mass., May 3, 2000 - ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), the leading provider of digital imaging software, today announced it has secured a worldwide distribution agreement and equity stake totaling 10% in EchoBahn.com, a Fremont, California-based web marketing services company. As part of the agreement, ScanSoft will include EchoBahn.com's BookmarkExpress™ technology in future products, including PaperPort Deluxe 7.0, announced today. BookmarkExpress helps all types of users, including mobile professionals, to easily navigate the web from any PC through the use of visual thumbnails.

BookmarkExpress enables users to access their web bookmarks from any computer that is connected to the Internet. Business people who travel can always have access to their favorite web sites without having to remember the URLs or specific web pages they want to access. Adding functionality to traditional browsers, BookmarkExpress displays the user's favorite web page as a graphic visual thumbnail, making it faster and easier to find the right web site's URL and access it. The visual thumbnails are continuously updated for each user as the web host site updates their web pages, ensuring current content at all times.

"EchoBahn.com is pleased to enter into this agreement with ScanSoft," said Mark Koziol, vice president of sales & marketing of EchoBahn.com. "EchoBahn.com's best-of-breed solution for managing web based information is a perfect match with ScanSoft's millions of registered users who have the need to manage documents and electronic information, and with the rapidly growing number of devices with which ScanSoft bundles their products."

In addition to providing a means for users to better organize web pages, this partnership with EchoBahn.com provides the user with product updates and marketing promotions as they surf the web, all based on the user's specific interests and surfing patterns.

"ScanSoft provides products and services that enable users to manage both paper-based and electronic documents on their PC," said Wayne Crandall, ScanSoft's senior vice president of sales and business development. "Our relationship with EchoBahn.com lets us now extend these benefits to include web-based information and enables us to complement our software product strategy with web-based solutions."

BookmarkExpress, as well as additional technology developed by EchoBahn.com, will be included in products that ScanSoft will release later this year, including PaperPort Deluxe 7.0, which was announced today in a separate press release. PaperPort Deluxe is the best-selling paper management software for home and business, integrating paper management, photo editing, forms fill-in, OCR and now BookmarkExpress. It enables users to organize, use and retrieve scanned paper and photos, as well as electronic files like word processing documents, digital camera photos, spreadsheets, and web pages.

About EchoBahn.com

EchoBahn.com was founded in July 1999, and is headquartered in Fremont, California. EchoBahn.com serves the business to business marketing services marketplace. It offers a complete line of software solutions geared toward OEMs and e-tailers to address their customer communication challenges. EchoBahn.com products are marketed worldwide through their web site and soon through selected OEM and e-tail partners. Additional information on BookmarkExpress can be found at http://www.bookmarkexpress.com.

About ScanSoft, Inc.

Headquartered in Peabody, MA, ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT) is the leading developer of digital imaging software that enables users to leverage the power of their scanners, digital cameras and other electronic devices. ScanSoft's award-winning product line - Pagis® Pro, TextBridge® Pro, PaperPort® Deluxe™, OmniPage Pro®, OmniForm®, OmniPage Pro Scan Suite Plus™, ImageAXS™, PageKeeper®, Kai's PhotoSoap2™, Kai's SuperGoo™, Kai's PowerShow™, and PhotoFactory™ - enables users to capture, recognize, edit, manage and share documents and photos electronically by taking advantage of ScanSoft's cutting-edge technology.

ScanSoft has established numerous strategic partnerships with the industry's leading scanner and multifunction vendors to deliver the most comprehensive and cost-effective solutions to its customers. Vendors who have chosen ScanSoft's cutting-edge OCR technologies to incorporate into their own product offerings include Brother, Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Lotus, Microtek, Mustek, Primax, Sharp, Symantec, Visioneer, Xerox and others. ScanSoft's leading OCR technology was recently licensed by Microsoft for use in future products. ScanSoft continues to cultivate and develop strategic partnerships to deliver the most comprehensive and cost-effective solutions for its customers.

ScanSoft software is sold and marketed worldwide through retail, dealer and OEM channels and the Internet, capturing the consumer, small office/home office (SOHO) and corporate markets. There are approximately 7 million registered users of ScanSoft products. ScanSoft can be found on the Web at www.scansoft.com.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements as to the perceived benefits of the agreement with EchoBahn.com and availability and configuration of future products, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including the impact of competitive products, market acceptance of both ScanSoft's and EchoBahn.com's products, work stoppages, engineering delays, quality assurance testing delays, contractual negotiations, changes in operating systems, a significant change in the competitive environment, and other risks detailed from time to time in ScanSoft's SEC reports. ScanSoft disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Paper Converter, Pagis, TextBridge, PaperPort, PaperPort Deluxe, Scanner Suite, OmniPage, OmniForm, OmniForm Internet Publisher, PageKeeper, Smart Folders and Folder Watch are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc. ImageAXS is a trademark of Digital Arts & Sciences Corporation. All other trademarks and tradenames are hereby recognized and many be registered to their respective holders.

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