PEABODY, Mass., - February 14, 2001 -ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), the leading provider of paper-to-digital solutions for desktop, network and corporate workgroups software, today announced a key addition to its senior management team. Former AvantGo and Adobe executive John Capurso has joined ScanSoft as Vice President of Sales. Capurso will be responsible for North America and the Pacific Rim, leading the company's world-class sales effort in these two important regions.

"We are very excited about our ability to attract this kind of talent into our company. John is a seasoned sales executive with the experience to help us build our sales channels and deliver on our 2001 revenue objectives," said Wayne Crandall, ScanSoft's Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "John is taking on a key role at a very important time in ScanSoft's history and will be instrumental as we continue to build ScanSoft as the defacto leader in paper-to-digital solutions worldwide."

Capurso brings to ScanSoft almost 20 years of sales and marketing experience. Most recently he worked in channel sales at AvantGo, Inc., where he successfully created a new sales channel for the company targeting software resellers, VARs, ASPs, and System Integrators. Prior to AvantGo, Capurso spent nine years at Adobe Systems in a series of increasingly senior management positions. He began his career as the OEM Sales Manager, responsible for software licensing and selling integrated technology solutions using Adobe's PostScript printing, publishing, Internet, and document technologies. After consistently exceeding revenue goals in this capacity, Capurso was promoted to Director of Vertical Market Sales, Worldwide Field Operations where he was instrumental in helping to establish Adobe as a leader in Web Publishing and print-based documents workflow. In 1999 he was promoted at Adobe to Director of Global Strategic Accounts. Leading a team of Strategic Account Directors, Capurso was responsible for sales with all of Adobe's major accounts, closing significant business opportunites in Web publishing, software licensing, Web-hosted applications, Internet solutions, and document workflow. Capurso's background also includes seven years of marketing and new product development at NEC Technologies.

About ScanSoft, Inc.

Headquartered in Peabody, MA with European headquarters in the Netherlands, ScanSoft, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSFT) is the leading developer of paper-to-digital solutions that enable 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, Kai's PhotoSoap2, Kai's SuperGoo, Kai's PowerShow, PhotoFactory, and numerous software developer's kits - 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 technologies include Brother, Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM/Lotus, Mustek, Primax, Sharp, Symantec Corporation, Visioneer, Xerox and others. ScanSoft's leading technologies have been licensed by Microsoft for use in Office 10 and other 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, marketed and supported worldwide through retail, dealer and OEM channels and the Internet, capturing the small to medium size business 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.

Trademark reference: ScanSoft, PaperPort, PaperPort Deluxe, Pagis, TextBridge, OmniPage, OmniPage Pro Scan Suite Plus, OmniForm, eOmniForm, Paper Converter, Scanner Suite, PageKeeper, Developer's Kit 2000, PhotoFactory, Kai's PhotoSoap2, Kai's SuperGoo, and Kai's PowerShow are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks and trade names are hereby recognized and may be registered to their respective holders.

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