Scan-Optics Announces Order for Two 9000MC Color Scanners at the State of Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MANCHESTER, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2003

Scan-Optics, Inc., (OTC BB: SOCR) a leader in information capture customer service solutions for government, insurance, order fulfillment, proxy, health claims, test scoring and other paper-intensive businesses, today announced that they have received an order for two 9000MC color scanners from the State of Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (TXCPA).

TXCPA has been a Scan-Optics customer since 1978 and is currently using Scan-Optics' award-winning tax processing solution, an automated, image-based tax form processing and data capture solution, consisting of integrated modules to process sales and other types of tax returns. TXCPA is based in Austin and has offices in 26 Texas cities as well as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Tulsa. The tax returns they process vary from sales and use taxes to oil and natural gas production taxes.

"We are very proud of our long-standing relationship with TXCPA, and of our ability to provide them with a long-term, comprehensive solution to their processing needs," said Richard C. Goyette, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Scan-Optics. He added, "We look forward to continuing to provide them with industry leading solutions that help them to achieve their business goals."

The 9000MC enhancement is the latest addition to the successful Series 9000 family of high volume, high-speed imaging and recognition scanner product line. It is designed specifically to handle the imaging and intelligent character recognition (ICR) demands of customers requiring high accuracy data recognition along with color archiving. The 9000MC provides inline OCR/ICR for data recognition, programmable document serialization, selective image output and stacking options along with intermixed or non-intermixed forms processing. The system offers a number of optional product add-on packages to meet specific forms processing requirements. The 9000MC can be configured to read a wide range of machine-print (OCR), handprint (ICR) and mark sense (OMR) data with optional simplex or duplex capabilities. In addition, the 9000MC can be equipped with one or more cameras selected from a wide range of optional cameras offering varying resolutions and lighting, including color imaging, to meet any forms processing application requirement.

Scan-Optics, Inc., with headquarters in Manchester, Connecticut, is recognized internationally as an innovator and solution provider in the information management and imaging business. It designs, manufactures and services products and systems for character recognition, image processing and display, data capture, data entry, and storage and retrieval. Scan-Optics systems and software are marketed worldwide to commercial and government customers directly and through distributors. Through its Manufacturing Services Division, Scan-Optics also provides contract manufacturing services to customers, outsourcing the manufacturing of complex, electro-mechanical assemblies. The Company has sales and service offices located throughout the United States and abroad. Additional information is available at www.scanoptics.com

Statements about the Company's future expectations, including future revenues and earnings, and all other statements in this press release other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements" made under safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could materially affect future results. Among these risk factors are changes in general economic and business conditions in the United States and foreign markets, which impact capital investments by customers, the cyclical nature of funding within federal and state government agencies, further adverse changes in the Company's banking, lending and financing relationship, insufficient cash resources, increased competition from similar products, the implementation of other technologies which may provide alternative solutions, ability to complete projects in a timely manner, and other risk factors and cautionary statements listed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2001.