Frost & Sullivan Honors ScanSoft with Market Leadership Award

Prestigious Award Recognizes SpeechWorks Division of ScanSoft for Significant Accomplishments and Rapid Growth in Speech Technologies Market

PEABODY, Mass., September 14, 2004 - ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), the global leader of speech and imaging solutions, today announced that industry research firm Frost & Sullivan has selected the SpeechWorks Division of ScanSoft for the "2004 Speech Technologies Market Leadership Award".

The SpeechWorks division was recognized for excellence in all areas of the market leadership process, including the identification of market challenges, drivers and restraints, as well as strategy development and methods of addressing these market dynamics. The SpeechWorks division earned the Frost & Sullivan Speech Technologies Market Leadership Award based on the following criteria:

• 2003 North American Market Share Leadership Position



• North American License & Services Revenue Growth Rates



• Brand Name Recognition and Mind Share



• Market and Technology Innovation

"When evaluating the strict criteria Frost & Sullivan developed for this particular award, it's clear that the SpeechWorks division of ScanSoft is the market leader in speech technologies," said Elka Popova, lead analyst at Frost & Sullivan. "With the 2004 Speech Technologies Market Leadership Award, we are recognizing the SpeechWorks division for its unmatched portfolio of speech solutions that help businesses save time and money."

"We're greatly honored to receive this prestigious recognition from Frost & Sullivan," said Steve Chambers, president of SpeechWorks, a division of ScanSoft. "The SpeechWorks division of ScanSoft has worked tirelessly to deliver innovative speech technology solutions that meet the ever-changing needs of our customers. We're excited to be at the center of this dynamic industry and look forward to even greater success in the years ahead."

Industry Reports Confirm Division's Global Leadership

Frost & Sullivan recently recognized the SpeechWorks division of ScanSoft as the 2003 speech technology market leader in North America. The industry research firm's annual Asia Pacific Interaction CRM Market report acknowledged the SpeechWorks division's market share leadership for the Asia Pacific Region, which included leading positions in Australia, India, New Zealand and Singapore.

The SpeechWorks division of ScanSoft is headquartered in the U.S., with 15 major offices in Canada, U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Belgium, Japan, and Australia, and representatives in more than 70 other countries. Its award-winning SpeechWorks solutions support more than 40 languages for speech recognition and more than 20 different languages for text-to-speech. Backed by a global professional services organization to provide localized support virtually anywhere in the world, SpeechWorks possesses the broadest reach of any speech company today.

About the SpeechWorks Division of ScanSoft

Speech applications for the real world. Through a global partner network, the company delivers field-proven solutions that use the human voice to interact with information systems and devices. Today, thousands of companies and millions of users around the world depend on SpeechWorks® solutions from ScanSoft to deliver vital business information and simplify every day life.

About ScanSoft, Inc.

ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT) is the global leader 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.

ScanSoft, the ScanSoft logo, and SpeechWorks are trademarks or registered trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. All other company names or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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