PEABODY, Mass., - October 10, 2001 ScanSoft®, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSFT), a global leader in paper-to-digital solutions, today announced that the newest release of the company's flagship product, OmniPage® Pro 11, has surpassed important sales milestones since its launch on June 25, 2001. To date, ScanSoft has shipped nearly 100,000 copies of OmniPage Pro 11, marking the fastest growing product introduction in the company's history. In addition, according to information from PC Data, retail shipments of OmniPage Pro software in the U.S. have outpaced other optical character recognition (OCR) solutions by an average of nearly 50-to-1, signaling a wide gap between ScanSoft and the competition.

Since its launch, OmniPage Pro 11 software has received critical acclaim from its far-reaching customer, partner, press and analyst constituencies. Building on its broad customer base, ScanSoft has added or expanded relationships with leading organizations such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Indiana University and Lockheed Martin. In addition, the company has received accolades in both trade and business press and, in particular, garnered favorable reviews from publications such as eWeek, PC World and PC Shopping.

“We are pleased, and quite proud, of the overwhelming market response to the newest version of our OmniPage Pro software,” said Paul Ricci, chairman and CEO of ScanSoft, Inc. “The early reception that we have seen from the field has far exceeded our expectations. With the success of OmniPage Pro and the recent launch of our other core products, OmniForm Premium and PaperPort Deluxe, we look forward to continuing our momentum across the global market.”

OmniPage Pro offers the industry's fastest, easiest way to transform paper documents into editable, digital documents. The software has been widely adopted as a tool to increase productivity, saving time and expense by reducing the tedious efforts of recreating documents that are in paper form or read-only image files.

The solution is intended to not only increase productivity by incorporating digital documents into the digital workflow, but also by providing a means to work with documents in new ways. With an ability - unmatched among its peers - to convert PDF files into files that can be edited, OmniPage Pro provides access to a wealth of information previously “locked” in PDF format, allowing content to be easily included in other document files.

OmniPage Pro software provides the industry's most comprehensive list of features and capabilities among OCR solutions, from intelligent proofing and color preservation to one-click operation and unprecedented accuracy. For additional information on OmniPage Pro, please visit www.scansoft.com/products/omnipage/pro/.

About ScanSoft, Inc.

Headquartered in Peabody, Mass., with European headquarters in The Netherlands, ScanSoft, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSFT) is a global leader in paper-to-digital solutions for desktop, network, Internet and mobile environments that enable users to leverage the power of their scanners, digital cameras and other electronic devices. ScanSoft's award-winning product line - OmniPage Pro, TextBridge Pro, PaperPort Deluxe, Pagis Pro, OmniForm, eOmniForm, 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 products and 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 XP 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 eight million registered users of ScanSoft products. ScanSoft can be found on the Web at www.scansoft.com.

Trademark reference: ScanSoft, PaperPort, PaperPort Deluxe, PaperPortOnline, SimpleSearch, OmniPage, OmniPage Pro, TextBridge, Pagis, OmniForm, eOmniForm, and Developer's Kit 2000 are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks and trade names mentioned are hereby recognized and may be registered to their respective holders.

The Company notes that the statements in this release that relate to future plans, events, performance, including without limitation the projected shipment dates, customers' opting to upgrade to newer or more fully featured products are forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, market acceptance, engineering delays, quality assurance testing delays, contractual negotiations, successful completion of beta site testing, the scheduling of orders, changes in operating systems, a significant change in the competitive environment, timely delivery by component suppliers and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports. Readers are cautioned not to place undo reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.

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