ScanSoft Joins Intel Early Access Program, Leverages Intel Technology to Provide the Fastest, Most Accurate OCR and Document Conversion Solution Available

ScanSoft OmniPage Pro Takes Advantage of Intel Hyper-Threading Technology; Provides Faster Access and Greater Efficiency for Complex Tasks

Peabody, Mass., March 16, 2004 - ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), the leading supplier of speech and imaging solutions, today announced that it has joined the Intel® Early Access Program. As part of its relationship with Intel, ScanSoft OmniPage® Pro 14 Office, the world's most popular optical character recognition (OCR) and document conversion application, now takes advantage of Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, enabling ScanSoft software to provide faster results and more efficient processing.

Software applications such as OmniPage Pro 14 Office put high demands on processors. To improve performance, the software includes threading capabilities that split instructions into multiple streams so that multiple processors can perform the tasks in parallel. With Hyper-Threading Technology, processor-level threading can be utilized for average desktop PC users, which offers improved performance for OmniPage Pro 14 Office.

"We're pleased to be able to work with ScanSoft on their OmniPage Pro 14 application, which takes advantage of the tremendous benefits of Hyper-Threading Technology, and we look forward to working with them on additional applications through Intel's Early Access Program," said Mel Laird, general manager Solutions Enabling Division, Intel Corporation.

ScanSoft OmniPage Pro 14 Office is a powerful productivity application that delivers highly accurate document and PDF conversion, replacing the need to manually re-create paper and image-based documents with an automated, electronic process. The software helps businesses save time and money by instantly turning paper and PDF files-such as letters, contracts, spreadsheets, magazine articles, research reports, manuals and more-into editable documents.

The newest release of the award-winning software, OmniPage Pro 14 Office is designed to handle large scanning and document conversion tasks, providing advanced workflow and batch-processing capabilities that can simplify the most complex tasks into a one-touch application. By taking advantage of Intel's advanced Hyper-Threading capabilities, users can either initiate large OmniPage Pro 14 Office jobs and work in parallel with no hindrance to speed or productivity within their other applications, or simply take advantage of increased OCR processing speeds.

"Typically, OmniPage Pro 14 Office users are multitasking, utilizing several programs at once," said Robert Weideman, general manager, ScanSoft Productivity Applications. "With Hyper-Threading Technology from Intel, we are able to provide our customers with a faster solution and enable us to continue to provide them with solutions that increase productivity at every level - right down to processing speed and time spent."

About ScanSoft, Inc.

ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT) is the leading supplier of speech and imaging 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, the ScanSoft logo and OmniPage are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other company or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with market trends, competitive factors, and other risks identified in ScanSoft's SEC filings. Actual results, events or 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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