OMRON Licenses PaperPort Deluxe From ScanSoft, Creates and Delivers Localized Version for Growing Japanese Market

ScanSoft's PaperPort is The Market-Leading Scanning and Digital Document Management Application for the PC; Agreement Enhances ScanSoft's Global Reach

PEABODY, Mass., April 8, 2002 - ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), a leading supplier of imaging, speech and language solutions, today announced that OMRON Software Co., Ltd., a leading software technology company and a subsidiary of OMRON Corporation (TSE: 6645), is licensing ScanSoft's PaperPort Deluxe® and has localized it for distribution in the Japanese market. In addition to localizing the product into Japanese, OMRON SOFTWARE has ported its code base to be double-byte enabled for use on the most popular platforms in Japan including NEC, Sony, Fujitsu and others. OMRON SOFTWARE provides marketing and support throughout the Japanese market.

Office professionals in a broad range of industries have found PaperPort® to be the ideal solution for scanning and managing paper documents, as well as for organizing and sharing all of the digital documents on their PC's. PaperPort's search capabilities, which include finding scanned paper documents using any word contained in the document image, are especially useful for paper-intensive businesses, including law firms, insurance agencies, real estate agencies, medical offices and accounting firms. PaperPort users consistently find that its powerful document management capabilities save them significant time and money.

"The Japanese business community has been searching for a comprehensive productivity solution that allows users to manipulate paper documents as if they were digital documents in the workplace," said Kibou Kurokawa, Director at OMRON SOFTWARE. "By selecting PaperPort as our platform we are able to quickly deliver a proven product that has a strong brand identity. By selecting ScanSoft as our software partner, and applying OMRON's language processing technology, we feel confident that the products we deliver are the most powerful, easy-to-use, and of the highest quality available."

PaperPort Deluxe is the world's best-selling desktop document and paper management application for the PC. The product is widely regarded as powerful but simple to use, overcoming the complexities usually found in scanning and document management applications. Key PaperPort features include SimpleSearch, which locates digital files and scanned paper using any word contained in the document image; the Visual File Manager, which presents all files using large thumbnail presentations; and support for a wide range of file formats, including Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, PDF, JPEG and TIFF, making it a powerful product for managing scanned paper, digital documents and photographs. PaperPort is compatible with the newest releases of popular software products, including Microsoft Windows® XP and Office XP, AOL®, Netscape® Mail, Quicken® and more.

"ScanSoft is excited to have OMRON SOFTWARE select PaperPort as their platform to deliver desktop document management to Japanese office professionals," said Wayne Crandall, senior vice president of sales and business development at ScanSoft. "OMRON is a powerful partner for ScanSoft and will enable us to deliver on our commitment to being the global leader in imaging and document automation applications."

With the availability of Paperport Deluxe in Japanese, ScanSoft together with OMRON can further expand the existing OEM bundles for digital MFP partners to also address the Japanese markets. Relationships such as Kyocera/Mita, which OEM's Paperport in North America and Europe for inclusion in their networked MFP is now also including the Japanese version making their system offerings consistent on a worldwide basis.

Pricing and Availability

The Japanese version of PaperPort Deluxe is priced at ¥19,800 (approximately $150 U.S. dollars) and is available from OMRON SOFTWARE at http://www.omronsoft.com or through traditional retailers, online merchants as well as resellers.

About OMRON SOFTWARE Co., Ltd.

OMRON SOFTWARE is a leading software technology company and a subsidiary of OMRON Corporation. The company provides engineering of industrial and social automation systems and embedded software for microcomputers, and software products for UNIX, PC, and embedded systems. The company has approximately 750 employees and is headquartered in Kyoto, Japan.

About ScanSoft, Inc.

ScanSoft, Inc. 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 on ScanSoft® products and technologies, please visit www.ScanSoft.com.

Trademark reference: ScanSoft and PaperPort and PaperPort Deluxe are registered trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other product names or company names referenced herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

he 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, events 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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