BURLINGTON, Mass. and TOKYO – January 8, 2008 – Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), a leading supplier of speech and imaging solutions, today announced that it has appointed Fumitaka Tezuka as a vice president of Nuance Communications, Inc. and President of the Nuance Communications Japan K.K. Mr. Tezuka, formerly president of Genesys Japan K.K., will be responsible for all aspects of Nuance’s commercial efforts in Japan. He will be based in the Nuance Communications Japan headquarters in Tokyo and will report to Don Hunt, Nuance’s president of worldwide sales.

Japan is one of the most technologically sophisticated markets in the global economy and a strong hub for innovation, particularly in the mobile, automotive and consumer electronic industries. In recent years, Nuance has seen steady growth in Japan and has established itself as the leading speech solutions company in the Japanese market. The company has built several strong partnerships and grown its Japanese customer base to include companies such as Sharp, Denso, GE Consumer Finance and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities. With the continued proliferation of speech and Nuance’s expanding efforts in the mobile and enterprise markets, the company concluded a strong presence and senior leadership would accelerate its next phase of growth.

“We are pleased to welcome an executive with the stature and experience of Fumitaka Tezuka, extending the strong team we’ve established at Nuance Communications Japan KK,” said Don Hunt, president, Worldwide Sales at Nuance. “Throughout a successful career, Tezuka-san has demonstrated an ability to understand and meet customers' needs, and to grow relationships and businesses by recognizing and creating new opportunities. We look forward to Tezuka-san’s contributions as he leads the Nuance’s expansion in Japan and continues a heritage of providing innovative solutions for its global customers and partners.”

Mr. Tezuka, during the last 15 years, has served as president and CEO at a number of technology companies in Japan including Genesys Japan K.K.; TMSw Corp.; Red Brick Japan Co., Ltd.; and Bay Networks K.K. Most recently as president of Genesys Japan K.K., Mr. Tezuka was responsible for delivering Genesys solutions to three large telecommunications carriers, including NTT, KDDI and Softbank Group, and other major enterprises and SI partners in the region.

“It is my pleasure to join an industry leader such as Nuance,” said Fumitaka Tezuka. “Having worked in the software industry a long time, I recognize and admire Nuance’s reputation for market leadership, customer excellence and technology innovation. Speech automation is a technology that has an increasingly pivotal role in mobile, as well as other industries and applications, and I look forward to helping the company reach its ambitious goals for its solutions.”

In connection with the hiring of Fumitaka Tezuka, the Compensation Committee approved the issuance of an inducement grant of 75,000 stand-alone restricted stock units to Mr. Tezuka, as an inducement that is material to his entering into an employment arrangement with Nuance. The restricted stock units were granted in accordance with NASDAQ Marketplace Rule 4350 and upon the approval of the Compensation Committee of Nuance’s Board of Directors. 50,000 of the restricted stock units vest over a four year period and 25,000 of the restricted stock units vest upon the achievement of certain performance-based objectives.

About Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance (NASDAQ: NUAN) is a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance's proven applications. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.