New ScanSoft VoiceRequest 2.0 Brings Productivity of Voice-Activated Call Routing to Organizations of All Sizes.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

PEABODY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 18, 2003

Rapid Deployment, Support for Intel Dialogic Boards, Superior

Accuracy and Aggressive Licensing Program Overcome Historical

Barriers in Implementing Voice Dialing Applications

ScanSoft, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSFT), a leading supplier of imaging, speech and language solutions, today announced the immediate availability of ScanSoft(R) VoiceRequest(R) 2.0, the new release of its highly accurate and easy-to-use corporate voice dialing application, which allows users to have their calls automatically routed simply by speaking. ScanSoft VoiceRequest is a Microsoft Windows application that adds automatic voice-activated dialing to existing private branch exchange (PBX) phone systems, providing seamless call routing to corporate, academic and government organizations worldwide.

VoiceRequest 2.0 overcomes limitations found in historical corporate voice dialing (CVD) products- limitations that have relegated their use mainly to very large organizations. VoiceRequest 2.0 is highly scalable, making it an ideal solution for organizations of all sizes - from small businesses to large organizations needing support for more than one million names. The new release surpasses other solutions by lowering the costs of acquisition of both hardware and software; standardizing and simplifying the installation process; automating and enabling enhanced remote maintenance of the system; providing high customer satisfaction through pre-recorded name prompts, human-sounding text-to-speech and superior accuracy; and accelerating return on investment by providing a cost-effective solution that delivers on its promise of automation. In addition, ScanSoft's extensive linguistic development experience enables the system to recognize names spoken with foreign accents, eliminating the end-user frustration commonly found in other systems.

VoiceRequest reduces operational costs by increasing productivity and lowering the number of phone attendant staff needed to route internal and external calls, typically by 90% or more. It also enhances customer satisfaction and service by connecting calls more quickly than manual systems, significantly reducing hold times. When used internally to automatically connect co-workers, the system increases productivity and saves countless man-hours by eliminating the time and hassle of looking up extensions. Best of all, VoiceRequest delivers the benefits of automatically routing calls twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

"Voice activated dialing is a horizontal application that appeals to a broad spectrum of enterprise customers," noted Daniel Miller, senior analyst at Zelos Group. "With this release, ScanSoft leverages its extensive language support and distribution channels to provide a package that makes automated speech affordable and easier to implement."

ScanSoft is making CVD a more practical productivity solution for organizations of all sizes by combining an aggressive licensing program with cost savings delivered through support for industry-standard Intel hardware and Microsoft operating systems. ScanSoft has also added support for Intel Dialogic JCT series voice telephony boards running under Microsoft Windows NT/2000, which delivers superior cost-per-line hardware capabilities for large PBX environments.

ScanSoft is also reducing the time needed to deploy and customize CVD deployments through the release of VoiceRequest 2.0. In the past, the inability of speech recognition engines to be flexible in their understanding of variations in name pronunciation meant that CVD systems needed extensive name customization and testing before deployment. VoiceRequest overcomes this limitation by integrating the industry's largest names lexicon within its system, and by using ScanSoft(R) SpeechPearl(R) as its automatic speech recognition (ASR) engine. SpeechPearl has the unique ability to scale to understand more than two million names, and can automatically adapt its understanding to include variations in the way words and names are pronounced. SpeechPearl is also used by many telephony carrier organizations, including Portugal Telecom, Japan Multimedia Service and Repons AB Sweden, as well as corporate organizations such as Subway Restaurants, for information self-service programs,

In addition, ScanSoft has integrated ScanSoft(R) RealSpeak(TM) text-to-speech (TTS) engine into VoiceRequest 2.0. RealSpeak provides the system with human-sounding synthesized speech, which is used whenever a name or prompt has not been professionally recorded. ScanSoft RealSpeak is the most widely used TTS in the telephony industry.

ScanSoft VoiceRequest is used by more than 500 corporate, healthcare, academic and government organizations to lower costs, improve customer service and increase worker productivity. Existing VoiceRequest customers include Merrill Lynch, Aetna, New York Life, PeopleSoft, St. Vincent's Hospital, Park Plaza Medical, Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Association, Kent State University and Pepperdine College.

Key new capabilities and features of VoiceRequest 2.0 include:

-- New VoiceRequest Licensing Program - ScanSoft has implemented

aggressive licensing for VoiceRequest 2.0 in order to make CVD

a practical solution for an organization of any size. License

costs have been reduced by up to 45% depending upon

configuration, with an entry-level 500-name system as low as

$8,499.

-- Enhanced Accuracy via Complete U.S. Census Names Lexicon -

VoiceRequest 2.0 has an integrated name-pronunciation lexicon

that includes over 95% of U.S. Census names plus ScanSoft's

own professionally transcribed user lexicon. No other CVD

solution offers this capability, which results in higher

accuracy and less customization.

-- Superior SpeechPearl Recognition Engine - Unique to

VoiceRequest 2.0, ScanSoft SpeechPearl provides the most

accurate and flexible speech recognition capabilities in the

industry, and comes standard with the system, unlike other CVD

products.

-- Standard RealSpeak Text-to-Speech Quality - ScanSoft RealSpeak

is the highest quality TTS engine available, and is a standard

component of VoiceRequest 2.0. Other CVD products require an

additional charge for premium TTS engines such as RealSpeak.

-- Support for Intel Dialogic JCT Series Voice Boards -

VoiceRequest 2.0 adds support for standards-based telephony

boards from Intel Corporation. Intel Dialogic telephony boards

deliver superior price/performance capabilities in large call

volume environments, further reducing the investment required

in implementing VoiceRequest.

-- New Remote System Management Tools - Provides system

administrators with a new set of tools to easily manage and

update any VoiceRequest system from an off-site location.

-- New Multi-Site Database Replication Tool - Provides automatic

replication of a database to multiple remote VoiceRequest

systems; ideal for continuously updating regional/remote

locations from one central location.

-- Expanded ProNames(TM) Database -VoiceRequest systems include a

large, professionally recorded names database standard with

every system. This newly expanded names database provides

customers with a professional-sounding CVD solution right out

of the box.

-- Flexible Name Disambiguation Options - VoiceRequest provides

several options to quickly eliminate confusion caused by

multiple people or departments with same names

"Our depth of technologies and broad industry partnerships place ScanSoft in a unique position to overcome the historical limitations associated with corporate voice dialing applications, especially in the areas of acquisition and ownership costs," said Robert Weideman, chief marketing officer for ScanSoft. "VoiceRequest 2.0 is revolutionary in that it implements a mix of licensing, reliability and feature enhancements to deliver the best return on investment possible."

Pricing and Availability

ScanSoft VoiceRequest 2.0 is available immediately through ScanSoft's professional sales organization and global network of reseller partners. Please visit www.ScanSoft.com/VoiceRequest or call 800-386-8274 and say "Sales Department."

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, the ScanSoft logo, VoiceRequest, SpeechPearl, ProNames, and RealSpeak are trademarks or registered trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other company names and 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.