Frost & Sullivan Study Names ScanSoft as Market Share Leader in Text-to-Speech Solutions

ScanSoft RealSpeak Holds More Than Twice the Market Share of Its Nearest Competitor; ScanSoft Delivers Superior Voice Quality, Scalability and Broad Language Support

PEABODY, Mass. March 19, 2002 - ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), a leading supplier of imaging, speech and language solutions, today announced that Frost & Sullivan, a prominent industry research firm, has identified ScanSoft as the leading supplier of text-to-speech (TTS) software. The finding was recently published in a comprehensive study of the North American speech industry.

While the Frost & Sullivan study shows no dominant leader within other segments of the telephony-based speech market, the data is dramatic in demonstrating ScanSoft's dominant position within TTS solutions. ScanSoft owns 44 percent of the market with its RealSpeak™ family, more than twice the market share of the nearest, single competitor at 21 percent. ScanSoft's dominant position in speech technologies can be attributed to a number of factors, including the industry's most comprehensive language support (RealSpeak is offered in 19 languages), superior voice quality and the ability to scale from small footprint devices to large enterprise applications and global telecommunications services.

"Natural, human-sounding synthesized speech is a critical component in the delivery of content to automotive, mobile and telephony-based applications," said Robert Weideman, vice president of worldwide marketing at ScanSoft. "ScanSoft's RealSpeak is the TTS product of choice because of its superior speech quality and unique ability to support global applications with a single development investment. We intend to expand our market presence through additional licensing opportunities and the release of new versions that will redefine the industry standard for quality, flexibility, and performance."

Underscoring ScanSoft's continued growth in text-to-speech software, the company recently launched an initiative with Microsoft for automotive solutions and announced license agreements with Philips, Citroen and National Dutch Public TV. Today, ScanSoft® TTS technology provides the computer-generated voice behind a variety of applications, devices and services, including BeVocal voice portals, Microsoft Office XP, Cisco Unified Messaging Solutions, Edify Call Center Solutions, and Kurzweil reading products for the blind.

ScanSoft RealSpeak is the company's advanced text-to-speech technology that can generate human sounding synthesized speech. RealSpeak technology supports a range of operating systems and is currently available in 19 languages: US and UK English, German, French, Dutch & Belgian Dutch, Castilian and Mexican Spanish, Italian, European and Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Danish and Cantonese & Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

About ScanSoft, Inc.

ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT) is the leading supplier of imaging, speech and language solutions that are used to automate a wide range of manual processes - saving time, increasing worker productivity and improving customer service. For more information regarding ScanSoft products and technologies, please visit www.ScanSoft.com.

ScanSoft and RealSpeak are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other company or product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performances are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with market trends, competitive factors, and other risks identified in the Company's SEC filings. Actual results, event and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof.

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