PEABODY, Mass., - November 13, 2000 - - ScanSoft®, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSFT), the leading provider of digital imaging software, today announced the availability of OmniForm Developer's Edition 4.05, the first version of Developer's Edition for OmniForm®. The product is expected to ship December 4, 2000. As the only paper-to-digital solution, OmniForm Developer's Edition enables systems integrators, software developers, and Corporate IT professionals to create intelligent electronic forms and seamlessly integrate those forms into proprietary applications, web pages, and turnkey solutions. OmniForm Developer's Edition also allows designers to add digital signature fields to their forms, which the end user can then "sign" and submit electronically, eliminating the manual process of printing out and signing forms by hand. Developers, systems integrators and corporate IT professionals can benefit from reduced development time, faster delivery of solutions and added value to help create competitive differentiation.

"OmniForm Developer's Edition eliminates the time consuming form coding process, enabling developers to quickly and easily create intelligent electronic forms," said John Hoye, director of product marketing at ScanSoft. "In addition to making forms creation more efficient, OmniForm Developer's Edition includes the capability to create digital signature fields, providing developers with the leading edge technology necessary to meet the growing demand for legally binding electronic documents."

"We are pleased that ScanSoft has chosen to work with Entrust Technologies towards achieving Entrust-Ready™ status," said Paul Doscher, executive vice president, Marketing and Business Development for Entrust Technologies. "In light of the E-Sign Law recently passed by Congress, systems integrators can now create binding electronic forms with Entrust's digital signatures solution and ScanSoft's powerful developer tools."

OmniForm Developer's Edition allows developers to produce intelligent forms in OmniForm and seamlessly integrate them into an application or web page using the ActiveX Control, eliminating the end user's need for a desktop filler application. Growth in the use of electronic forms is expected to increase as organizations streamline and integrate document systems from paper to digital formats such as PDF, HTML, Microsoft Word® and others. Systems integrators can use OmniForm Developer's Edition to provide a seamlessly integrated solution for their clients. Vertical software developers in the medical, legal, financial and other industries can add value to their proprietary applications through the use of the ActiveX Control. Corporate IT professionals will benefit from the digital signature field capability, increasing security and authentication of their forms, thereby reducing possible fraud.

"As the largest producer of electronic court forms on the Internet, delivering over 200,000 legal form sides, we needed an easy and efficient way to manage forms," said Bill Bean, VP of Business Development at American Legal Net. "The OmniForm Developer's Edition was the only solution on the market that allowed us to accurately reproduce legal forms, incorporate XML, support digital signatures and seamlessly integrate their ActiveX Control into our application. We cut our development time in half while making it extremely easy for our customers to access and fill out forms."

By having a form integrated into their total solution, developers can take advantage of the following benefits:

No form coding required; OmniForm enables developers to create intelligent electronic forms quickly and easily.
Greater flexibility allows developers to build forms from scratch or convert existing paper forms into electronic forms.
Electronic data entry means forms are complete more quickly, efficiently and accurately.
Increase security and authentication of forms, thereby reducing possible fraud.

OmniForm Developer's Edition includes the new OmniForm ActiveX Control and support for digital signatures plus all of the award-winning design tools and intelligence capabilities found in OmniForm 4.0. OmniForm users can upgrade to OmniForm Developer's Edition to add digital signature fields to their forms. Anyone with compatible digital signature software can use the ActiveX Control or OmniForm Developer's Edition Filler to digitally sign the forms. OmniForm Developer's Edition Filler is a stand-alone product that can be purchased separately.

OmniForm is a full-featured forms solution that provides powerful tools for paper-to-electronic conversion, editing, designing, defining fillable fields, saving in a variety of formats and other important features:

ActiveX Control - OmniForm Developer's Edition enables developers to create intelligent electronic forms that can be seamlessly integrated via an Active X Control into proprietary applications, web pages, and turnkey solutions.
Digital Signatures - OmniForm Developer's Edition allows developers to create digital signature fields, which end users can "sign" using OmniForm Developer's Edition Filler or the ActiveX Control along with the appropriate digital signature software.
Paper-To-Electronic Forms Solution - OmniForm Developer's Edition is the only forms solution that allows developers to convert paper forms into electronic forms.
Paper Form Conversion - OmniForm 4.0 includes ScanSoft's Logical Forms Recognition™ (LFR) technology, which offers the unique ability to create electronic forms that maintain the same look and content of paper forms. LFR recognizes all form elements including fill fields, tables, graphics and color. In addition, LFR employs the award-winning OmniPage Pro® OCR technology to accurately convert printed words into electronic text and recognize hyperlinks to URLs and e-mail addresses. As a result, OmniForm is able to create an editable, electronic form that maintains the integrity, or look and feel, of the original paper form.
Forms Design and Editing Tools - OmniForm enables users to design forms from scratch or edit existing forms by providing powerful design tools including a proofing wizard, drawing tools, field creation tools, a scrapbook, alignment tools, and more.
Forms Intelligence - OmniForm allows users to build intelligence into electronic forms including automatic calculations and drop down boxes. The forms designer can even define validation parameters so the form is filled out properly and completely. OmniForm also allows the designer to define the field type such as currency, date, time, serial number or phone number.
A Variety of File Formats- An OmniForm Developer's Edition form can be saved in a variety of formats, depending on how it is to be used. Any form created in OmniForm can be saved as .XFM, the XML file type used in conjunction with the ActiveX Control, or .OFM (OmniForm format). Forms saved out to the OmniForm format can be filled out using OmniForm Developer's Edition Filler, a companion product, which enables users to fill out forms. A copy of OmniForm Filler is integrated into OmniForm Developer's Edition, and additional copies are available as a stand-alone product. Other formats include RTF (Microsoft Word), EXE (OmniForm mailable filler), PDF, DHTML, HTML 3.2, and OFML (OmniForm Markup Language).

Pricing and Availability

Expected to ship December 4, 2000, OmniForm Developer's Edition can be purchased on CD or for download by visiting www.scansoft.com, or directly from ScanSoft by calling 888-345-6203, as well as through electronic resellers and software catalog vendors. For information on electronic resellers, please visit www.scansoft.com.

The estimated street price of OmniForm Developer's Edition is $1,495. The special introductory price of $995 is being extended through December 31, 2000. In order to distribute the OmniForm ActiveX Control with your application or integrated into a web page, customers should contact ScanSoft at (888) 345-6203 to purchase a distribution license for OmniForm ActiveX Control.

Registered OmniForm 4.0 or 4.01 customers can purchase the upgrade to OmniForm Developer's Edition for $747.50. To take advantage of this attractive offer, please visit www.scansoft.com or call (888) 345-6203.

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 - PaperPort Deluxe, Pagis Pro, TextBridge Pro, OmniPage Pro, OmniPage Pro Scan Suite Plus, OmniForm, eOmniForm, Paper Converter, PageKeeper, ImageAXS, 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 for 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 Development Corporation, Microtek, Mustek, Primax, Sharp, Symantec Corporation, Visioneer, Xerox and others. ScanSoft's leading OCR technologies have been 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 more than 6.5 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 features, perceived benefits and availability of OmniForm Developer's Edition 4.05, 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 market acceptance of OmniForm Developer's Edition 4.05, the impact of competitive products, 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.

PaperPort, PaperPort Deluxe, Pagis, TextBridge, OmniPage, OmniPage Pro Scan Suite Plus, OmniForm, eOmniForm, Paper Converter, PageKeeper, Scanner Suite, PageKeeper, Developer's Kit 2000, PhotoFactory, Kai's PhotoSoap2, Kai's SuperGoo, Kai's PowerShow, and Logical Forms Recognition are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are hereby recognized and may be registered to their respective holders.

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