ScanSoft Introduces PaperPort Link Agents, Gaining Support From Cardiff, HP, Kofax, Microsoft, Oracle, Xerox and Others.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

AIIM 2003

booth #2135

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 2003

Leading Vendors and Analysts See PaperPort Pro Office as an

Essential Application That Puts Distributed Capture and PDF Creation

at the Fingertips of Every Information Worker

ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), a leading supplier of imaging, speech and language solutions, today announced PaperPort(R) Link Agents, extensions to ScanSoft(R) PaperPort Pro 9 Office that enable the distributed capture and automated processing of documents by every information worker within an organization. ScanSoft also announced broad industry support for PaperPort Link Agents from leading hardware and software vendors, including Cardiff Software, HP, Kofax, Microsoft Corporation, NSi, Oracle Corporation, Visioneer, and Xerox Corporation. The announcement also gained support from leading imaging and document automation industry analysts, including the Document Imaging Report and Kinetic Information.

Millions of users have proven the productivity value of ScanSoft PaperPort, relying on the application to simplify the way that they organize and use their scanned paper and PC application files. Recently introduced by ScanSoft, PaperPort Pro Office is the first desktop product to combine the convenience of network scanning, the power of creating PDF files, and the efficiency of document management, into a single, easy-to-use office productivity application.

PaperPort Link Agents extend the benefits of PaperPort to the entire organization, allowing information workers to automatically on-ramp paper onto their desktop using any multifunction or digital copier/scanning device on the network, combine the scanned documents with existing digital documents on their PC, and then process the complete document set into document capture, enterprise content management or workflow systems - all with drag & drop ease.

"Traditional distributed capture products deliver scanning, indexing and batch classification interfaces to remote users through a Web interface, which is great for imaging professionals, but not the solution that most information workers would find intuitive," said Robert J. Weideman, Chief Marketing Officer for ScanSoft. "In contrast, PaperPort is used by information workers every day as the way that they organize and share their documents. By making distributed capture a feature within a broader productivity application, versus the sole purpose of the application, PaperPort puts distributed capture at the fingertips of every information worker in the organization."

The power and flexibility of PaperPort Pro Office and Link Agent technology is on display in New York City this week in the ScanSoft booth #2135 at AIIM 2003, the leading industry event for business process automation. ScanSoft is demonstrating wireless scan-to-PDF by automatically transferring documents scanned from a multifunction printer (MFP) to an HP Compaq Tablet PC TC1000 using PaperPort Pro Office and its DesktopDelivery capability. ScanSoft is also showcasing PaperPort's ability to create PDF files from Microsoft Word and Excel documents, using its stacking feature to combine them with the scanned documents. Enterprise document workflow connectivity is then demonstrated when the new document set is dropped onto various PaperPort Link Agents for automatic processing. PaperPort Link Agents on display at AIIM include those for WebDAV (the Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning standard), HP AutoStore, Kofax Ascent Capture, Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server and Xerox DocuShare.

"The Link Agent technology not only moves PaperPort into the world of rules-based document capture and content management, it places PaperPort squarely within the enterprise context as well," said Steve Weissman, President of Kinetic Information LLC. "By connecting PaperPort to MFPs and digital copiers, ScanSoft is now poised to embrace every information worker with ready access to a network scanner."

A number of pre-made Link Agents are available from ScanSoft and its technology partners, including those that connect PaperPort Pro Office to automated processing by Cardiff TELEform, HP AutoStore, Kofax Ascent Capture, Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server, NSi, Oracle Collaboration Suite and Xerox DocuShare. Customers, vendors, VARs and integrators can also quickly develop custom solutions using the PaperPort Link Agent SDK.

"While distributed image capture has been on the market for a few years, it has not been widely adopted in the general office environment. ScanSoft is attempting to change that," said Ralph Gammon, Editor of the Document Imaging Report, a leading publication within the document automation industry. "Its latest version of PaperPort represents a potentially powerful on-ramp for true enterprise content management (ECM). PaperPort Pro 9 Office offers integration with networked scanning devices on the front end and, through ScanSoft's Link Agents, integration with leading ECM systems on the back end."

PaperPort Pro Office and its Link Agent capabilities have received broad industry support from a variety of leading technology organizations, including:

-- Cardiff Software

Dennis Clerke, President and CEO 

"The PaperPort Link Agent for Cardiff TELEform connects automatic forms processing to every desktop in the organization, simplifying the processing of forms and associated attachments. The solution is extensible, allowing our customers and VARs to use the PaperPort Link Agent SDK to create custom links to TELEform, our LiquidOffice eForm Management System, or to our new LiquidCapture document automation system."

-- HP

Lynn Hoffmann, Vice President, HP Imaging and Printing Alliance Solutions and Applications organization

"ScanSoft PaperPort Link Agents, such as the HP AutoStore link, are an important advancement that allow organizations to get the most from their investments in networked multifunction scanning. Using PaperPort, information workers can scan from networked HP multifunction products, and see their documents within PaperPort by the time they return to their desks. We are pleased to be working with ScanSoft on such an innovative solution."

-- Kofax Image Products

Anthony Macciola, Vice President of Marketing

"The ScanSoft PaperPort Link Agent for Kofax Ascent Capture enables the average business user to tap the powerful, automated indexing, data extraction and validation tools of Ascent. And through Ascent's API-level integration with nearly 100 Enterprise Content Management and archiving systems - plus its ability to simultaneously release to both active content systems and secure archives - PaperPort users can now enjoy the same level of enterprise security and availability for their documents as for information captured by Ascent."

-- Microsoft Corporation

Mike Gelon, Director of IW Server Marketing

"Microsoft SharePoint products and technologies were designed to be able to provide portal and collaboration services to enterprise customers. We're delighted to see development efforts from ScanSoft make that investment pay off."

-- NSi

Ali Tehranchi, President and Founder

"The ScanSoft PaperPort Link Agent for NSi provides organizations with a powerful way to automate their paper and digital document processes. Now users can use drag & drop to initiate rules-based document workflows, saving time and speeding access to important information."

-- Oracle Corporation

Steve Levine, Vice President, Oracle Collaboration Suite Marketing

"The ScanSoft PaperPort Link Agent for Oracle Collaboration Suite provides our customers with the ability to seamlessly work with all documents and centrally store them in Oracle Collaboration Suite. ScanSoft's support for industry standard document formats, including TIF and searchable PDF, fits perfectly within the framework of the Oracle Collaboration Suite, giving users confidence that they can find and view their documents over the network and via the Web."

-- Visioneer

Murray Dennis, President and CEO

"The extensibility of the Link Agent technology within PaperPort makes it an ideal companion solution for our full range of scanning devices. Mobile workers can scan-to-email in seconds, using PaperPort and the Visioneer Strobe Series, while information workers can process pages of paper into network content management using PaperPort and the Visioneer 9450. We are pleased to partner with ScanSoft in delivering solutions that enable pervasive document capture."

-- Xerox DocuShare

David Smith, Vice President and General Manager, DocuShare Business Unit

"The ScanSoft PaperPort Link Agent for Xerox DocuShare is an important component of our complete document management system. With the introduction of PaperPort Pro Office and DocuShare 3.0, customers get seamless, bi-directional support for scanning, document conversion, desktop application integration and enterprise-wide content distribution."

Availability

Complete information on pre-made ScanSoft PaperPort Link Agents and the PaperPort Link Agent SDK is available at www.ScanSoft.com/PaperPort/Links. PaperPort Link Agents work with the newly released PaperPort Pro 9 Office, as well as OEM versions of PaperPort 9 from ScanSoft. PaperPort Pro 9 Office is available starting at $199.99, with multi-seat and site license pricing available. Please call ScanSoft at (1) 800.443.7077 for additional details on pricing and availability.

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(R) products and technologies, please visit www.ScanSoft.com.

ScanSoft, PaperPort, and Link Agents are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. All other company or product names mentioned herein 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 and 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.