Voice-Insight Selects ScanSoft to Provide Solutions for Accessing Data by Voice

ScanSoft's Technologies Enable Voice Access to Content Navigation Systems, ERP, CRM and Sales Force Automation Applications

PEABODY, Mass. and GENT, Belgium, December 10, 2002 - ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), a leading supplier of imaging, speech and language solutions, today announced that Voice-Insight SA NV, a speech technology and database integrator, has selected ScanSoft® solutions to deliver speech-enabled database products. Through this agreement, Voice-Insight will provide speech capabilities to existing database content by integrating ScanSoft's text-to-speech and automatic speech recognition solutions with Voice-Insight's Voice Query Language (VQL) technology.

Voice-Insight's unique VQL technology is designed to provide access to any structured data by providing voice-enabled access to a wide range of database content. Voice Query Language technology is embedded in a variety of personal and business applications that are becoming more popular in today's mobile world, including geographic information systems, off- and on-board navigation, digital imaging and multimedia-on-demand, enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, sales force automation and business intelligence applications.

"The agreement between ScanSoft and Voice Insight will provide field users with the technology to be truly efficient and hands-free when updating database content in real world situations," said Charles Kemper, CEO, Voice-Insight. "Adding speech technology to applications will provide a more productive and innovative solution."

Voice-Insight's VQL technology is an extractor tool kit that can access an array of existing database applications. It can voice-enable database applications targeted to individuals, small business and enterprises and can be deployed in many types of mobile configurations. VQL is currently available in English, Japanese, French, Dutch and German; Chinese and other languages are under development. VQL uses ScanSoft's embedded speech recognition technology for automotive and mobile use, as well as ScanSoft's award-winning speech synthesis technology to create an effective and efficient user experience.

ScanSoft and Voice-Insight have collaborated on several applications that are virtually seamless to the end user, including ESRI Inc.'s ArcPad, the first mobile PDA geographic information solution that provides voice-enabled database access, mapping, and advanced global positioning system (GPS) capabilities to field-based users via handheld and mobile devices. While on the road, users can perform tasks such as zooming in, zooming out, and panning as well as more complex tasks, such as retrieving and updating forms, querying and collecting data, and editing, all with their voices.

"This combination of ScanSoft speech recognition, speech synthesis and Voice-Insight VQL technology brings high-performance speech capabilities to a mobile environment and provides benefits to industrial and consumer users in a variety of applications in which users need information from extensive or complex databases," said Peter Hauser, Senior Vice President and General Manager for ScanSoft International.

About Voice-Insight

Voice-Insight is committed to supplying organizations with off the shelf solutions for developing and deploying voice-activated, high-performance database products at low cost and in very short time to market, Voice-Insight has developed the copyright, patent pending Voice Query Language, an extractor toolkit that can interrogate the full array of existing database applications by means of voice in day to day language. These applications include geographical information systems, corporate applications like Enterprise Resource Planning/Customer Relationship Management, and digital imaging and multimedia on demand. With key international and multinational references in Japan, the USA, and Europe, Voice-Insight offer its product suites for voice media including handheld wireless, Internet, and interactive TV. For more information regarding Voice-Insight products and technologies, please visit www.voice-insight.com.

About ScanSoft Inc.

ScanSoft Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT) is a 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.

Trademark reference: ScanSoft is a registered trademark or trademark of ScanSoft Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other company names or product names referenced herein may be the 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, 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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