Microsoft Selects ScanSoft Productivity Applications for Microsoft Office eServices Portal

Business Wire, July 11, 2002

Business/Technology Editors

Microsoft Creates New `Document Imaging' Category Based on ScanSoft's

Digital Paper Management, OCR, PDF and eForm Products

In advance of Microsoft Fusion, Microsoft's premier partner event, ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), a leading supplier of imaging, speech and language solutions, today announced that Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) has selected ScanSoft's full range of productivity applications for the Microsoft Office eServices portal, located at http://office.microsoft.com/services. The company also announced that Microsoft has created a new Office eServices category based on ScanSoft's desktop and Web services products, called "Document Imaging," which fits into its existing "Documents" category.

The Microsoft Office eServices portal extends the benefits of Microsoft Office for customers by giving them direct access to productivity enhancing products and services. The site includes a range of pertinent business categories, including Training, Office Supplies & Computers, Language Services, Smart Tags, Communications, Web Authoring, Marketing - and now Document Imaging.

"While ScanSoft is a long-time strategic partner with Microsoft, the decision to add its product line to Office eServices was driven by the proven productivity that its applications deliver to the workplace," said Jeff Olund, General Manager, Microsoft Office eServices. "The breadth of its solution set is impressive, allowing us to immediately deliver a robust `Document Imaging' category."

ScanSoft's market-leading productivity solutions include the Dragon NaturallySpeaking line of speech recognition applications, the PaperPort scanning and digital paper management applications, the OmniPage desktop OCR and PDF conversion programs, as well as the OmniForm eForm design and management applications. ScanSoft also offers Web services-based products which complement its desktop application set, including eOmniForm.com, a point & click solution for Web-based forms publishing and data collection, and PaperPort Online, which enables scanning and document collaboration via the Web.

"The Microsoft Office eServices portal is an invaluable resource to those entrusted with enhancing the productivity of the organization," said Robert Weideman, vice president of worldwide marketing for ScanSoft. "ScanSoft is proud to join with Microsoft in improving the return-on-investment that Microsoft Office and the Office.NET platform deliver to office workers worldwide."

Since its debut in 1996, Microsoft Fusion has become the largest and most anticipated worldwide partner event of the year, providing valuable information, networking opportunities and product exhibits for Microsoft partners. More information and event registration can be found at http://www.microsoftfusion.com/.> The new `Document Imaging' category on the Microsoft Office eServices portal includes the following solution areas and ScanSoft products:

OCR, PDF & Conversion

-- ScanSoft OmniPage(R)Pro - Instantly convert paper and PDF into editable Word documents. OmniPage Pro eliminates the need to re-type documents through the use of highly accurate optical character recognition (OCR) and page layout technologies. Ideal for business environments, the product identifies and separates all text, tables, graphics and page layout elements and accurately re-creates the document in Microsoft Word - allowing you to repurpose paper and PDF documents faster than ever before. OmniPage Pro is the most robust desktop OCR product available, with advanced features such as PDF in/out, robust scanner support, multi-file processing, and conversion scheduling.

-- ScanSoft TextBridge(R) - The simplest way to convert paper into editable documents. TextBridge provides accurate optical character recognition (OCR) and page layout capabilities for the PC. Ideal for home users.

Scan & Digital Paper Management

-- ScanSoft PaperPort(R) Deluxe - The most popular desktop image and document management solution that brings static paper documents into a digital environment enabling users to scan, store, organize, retrieve and user paper documents on a computer along with existing PC files.

eForm & Data Collection

-- ScanSoft OmniForm(R) - The de facto standard eForm design and routing application that instantly converts Office, paper and static PDF forms into automated electronic forms. Easily create XML, HTML or PDF forms that automatically collect data for Microsoft Excel, Access and SQL Server.

-- eOmniForm.com - A hosted Web service and simply the easiest way to publish and collect data from Web forms. A companion Web product to OmniForm Premium, eOmniForm.com provides a point & click way to publish standard HTML forms, and automatically collects data using XML. Forms can be linked to public or intranet Web sites, and also can be emailed.

About ScanSoft

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