PEABODY, Mass., - November 6, 2001 ScanSoft®, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSFT), a global leader in paper-to-digital solutions, today introduced a new Service Pack for its Developer's Kit 2000™, the 'one-stop-shop' toolkit that includes the industry's best implementations of multiple recognition technologies. The new Service Pack provides developers, OEMs, systems integrators and VARs with performance, application integration and deployment enhancements that simplify the process for creating applications that include robust recognition capabilities.

The new Service Pack for ScanSoft's Developer's Kit 2000 includes:

Four times faster recognition speed for smaller images
Enhanced image conversion solutions for a variety of image dimensions and resolutions
Streamlined IPRO Visual Basic interface and Visual Toolbox ActiveX controls that give developers more control over window toolbar features
Simplified engine installer program to help developers streamline distribution and licensing

The Developer's Kit has been adopted by companies such as Captiva Software and Mirror Worlds Technologies to meet the increased demand from developers for a single resource to easily integrate different recognition technologies into applications. Captiva Software, maker of the FormWare suite of automated forms processing applications, recently expanded its license agreement with ScanSoft in order that the developer may enhance the superior level of recognition available to FormWare customers. FormWare is designed to serve the more complex capture needs found in higher-volume, multi-user environments such as the financial, insurance, government and service industries where documents are more complex such as HCFA and UB92 processing. FormWare fits the bill with scanning, fax capture, machine and handwritten recognition, key entry, and export capabilities. The ScanSoft SDK helps Captiva developers achieve the superior level of performance available to FormWare customers.

"ScanSoft's SDK has helped Captiva earn its reputation for top-of-the-line forms processing software, and so we were excited to learn of this latest release, which promises to deliver the seamless integration of different image capture technologies," said Reynolds C. Bish, CEO of Captiva Software. "The ScanSoft SDK will also greatly reduce development time and cost and quicken our time to market, giving us yet another edge on the competition."

Mirror Worlds Technologies has utilized the Developer's Kit to develop Scopeware™, an information management infrastructure solution that manages, customizes, organizes and delivers structured and unstructured information irrespective of its source, automatically, and in real time. "ScanSoft's Developer's Toolkit has been instrumental in Mirror Worlds' mission to deliver state-of-the-art, real-time information management solutions," said Randy Prager, chief technology officer, Mirror Worlds Technologies. "ScanSoft's brand recognition and powerful OCR technologies give our Scopeware product line a distinct competitive advantage. The Developer's Kit 2000 enables us to build sophisticated OCR-driven applications that operate seamlessly and transparently."

"Application developers and software programmers the world over have increasingly recognized the value and benefit of incorporating recognition capabilities in their software," said Wayne Crandall, senior vice president of sales and marketing at ScanSoft, Inc. "ScanSoft is pleased to offer a comprehensive set of tools and renowned technologies to help developers successfully implement and deploy cutting-edge image processing solutions."

About ScanSoft's Developer's Kit 2000

Developer's Kit 2000 provides application developers with an opportunity to integrate multiple recognition technologies through a single interface. The software is designed for optimal 32-bit applications development and allows C programmers to take advantage of the C API and Visual C++, Delphi or Visual Basic programmers to leverage an ActiveX interface. The Developer's Kit 2000 offers 10 powerful recognition technologies - including Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR), remittance processing and bar code recognition - capable of processing virtually any kind of imaged text data or bar codes. Its open architecture is designed to allow for the integration of image preprocessing or recognition technologies not already included. The ActiveX interface and controls for image viewing, zone control and text editing relieve the programmer of tedious programming tasks in developing a complete image capture system.

Pricing and Availability

For existing customers of ScanSoft's Developer's Kit 2000 version 10, the new Service Pack is available immediately as a downloadable file from www.scansoft.com. New customers can purchase the toolkit that includes the new Service Pack, through ScanSoft's direct sales organization at (978) 977-2415. For additional information about the Developer's Kit 2000 and ScanSoft's other award-winning paper-to-digital software solutions, please visit www.scansoft.com.

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 input 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 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, OmniPage, TextBridge, PaperPort, PaperPort Deluxe, 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, and performance are forward-looking statements and are subject to change based on numerous factors including, but not limited to, work stoppages, engineering delays, quality assurance testing delays, contractual negotiations, 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.. There can be no assurance that any of these forward-looking statements will prove to be correct and actual results may differ materially. 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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