ScanSoft's Dragon MediaIndexer Wins "Best Desktop Product" Award at AVIOS 2002 Conference

New XML Speech Indexing Application and AudioMining Development System Enable the Text Search and Precise Playback of Audio and Video Content

PEABODY, Mass., May 16, 2002 - ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), a leading supplier of imaging, speech and language solutions, today announced that its Dragon MediaIndexer application received the "Best Desktop Product" Award at the 21st annual AVIOS speech industry conference, held in San Jose last week. ScanSoft outpaced a wide range of vendors with both hardware and software products competing for the award.

"ScanSoft's Dragon MediaIndexer truly revolutionizes the use of rich media files and unlocks the content, enabling unparalleled search and retrieval - a unique proposition and use of speech and language technologies," said Robert Weideman, vice president of worldwide marketing at ScanSoft. "We are honored to have been selected by an assortment of speech industry leaders at AVIOS and believe that this award is a testament to our continued momentum and innovative speech and language technologies."

ScanSoft is the first speech and language vendor to enable the affordable cataloging of rich media content, replacing costly manual indexing with automated solutions. ScanSoft's audio mining applications and development tools are unique in their ability to create XML speech index information from broadcast, non-broadcast and telephony speech content. Applications of ScanSoft's audio mining products include the automatic indexing and archiving of news, presentations, meetings, hearings and customer support calls.

Dragon MediaIndexer is a turnkey Microsoft Windows application that uses advanced speech recognition to create word, timestamp and meta-data from every word spoken within audio and video files. This allows the content within rich media to be searched using text keywords and phrases, and the playback of search matches at precise locations within the audio and video files. The product is intended to be used by non-technical staff to automatically index and archive media content for Web sites as well as for broadcast, corporate and government archives. For additional information and demo of Dragon MediaIndexer, please visit www.ScanSoft.com/MediaIndexer.

The AudioMining Development System allows developers to integrate XML speech indexing, search and precise playback capabilities with Web, commercial, government and custom software applications. The system can be used to add rich media archive and retrieval capabilities to a wide range of applications, including Web, call center, content management, customer relationship management, database, security, training and video editing programs. The AudioMining Development System supports a wide range of applications through its ability to create XML speech index data from broadcast-, telephony- and amateur-quality speech content. For more information please visit www.ScanSoft.com/AudioMining.

About AVIOS

AVIOS (Applied Voice Input/Output Society) is a not-for-profit entity, managed by a voluntary board of directors that includes leaders in the speech technology industry, in business and academia. AVIOS provides a forum that brings researchers, developers and users together to advance the progress of real world applications of speech technology.

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.

Trademark reference: ScanSoft and Dragon MediaIndexer are registered trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc., in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and trade names mentioned are hereby recognized and may be registered to their respective holders.

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performances, including without limitation statements concerning the perceived benefits of receiving AVIOS' Best Desktop Product Award, 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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