PEABODY, Mass., June 16, 2004 - ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), the global leader of speech and imaging solutions, today announced the availability of SpeechAttendant® 8.1, its market-leading turnkey auto-attendant solution. The latest release features improved support for large name directories and additional system administration functionality in ScanSoft's effort to further ease system management and decrease the total cost of ownership. SpeechAttendant is widely recognized as the superior call routing and auto-attendant solution in the market with more than 1,000 installations worldwide and handling over one-half billion calls annually.

The new SpeechAttendant release draws on caller and customer feedback from more than 1,000 installations worldwide. It provides efficient, personalized service to greet and route callers based on the number dialed and divert internal and inbound calls away from live operators so that they are free to focus on more value-add service. Unlike touch-tone systems, SpeechAttendant easily handles complex menu choices without forcing the caller to listen to a long list of options and eliminates the frustrating dial-by-name experience. This automatically eliminates "zero outs" and caller frustration, resulting in shorter call transfer and hold times for callers and reduced telephony costs for the enterprise. SpeechAttendant customers typically realize a return on their investment in less than one year.

"Speech-enabled auto-attendants can deliver compelling results for enterprise and telecommunications organizations around the world," said Richard Martel, vice president of auto-attendant solutions for SpeechWorks, a division of ScanSoft. "Today, our SpeechAttendant solution is delivering a significant return on investment for our customers while providing users with an enjoyable and frustration-free caller experience. These latest enhancements will provide organizations worldwide with a superior solution to successfully route callers while reducing costs."

SpeechAttendant 8.1 incorporates the superior performance and accuracy of OpenSpeech™ Recognizer speech recognition and natural-sounding Speechify® text-to-speech software, the SpeechWorks Division of ScanSoft's field-proven speech technologies. It is the only auto-attendant solution that allows callers to use natural phrases such as, "May I speak with Martha Jones." This functionality translates into a superior caller experience, improved performance and an accelerated return on investment for customers around the world. Enhanced features and additional capabilities include the following:

Improved Out-of-the-Box Accuracy for Wireless and Noisy Environments
SpeechAttendant 8.1 incorporates unique technologies from OpenSpeech Recognizer software to precisely discriminate between background noise and speech and dramatically increase accuracy rates for wireless, hands-free and noisy environments. It also features SpeechWorks' patented LEARN™ capability that automatically adapts based on caller usage, to ensure the highest possible accuracy in any application.

Improved Support for Large Directories
SpeechAttendant 8.1 delivers enhanced performance for large directories, containing more than 100,000 names, with improved disambiguation techniques to offer the same, high quality caller experience found with smaller directories containing fewer than 1,000 names.

Eased System Administration
SpeechAttendant includes several added features to improve system performance and provide a satisfying caller experience without significant support from the system administrator. It includes an extensive nicknames template that automatically associates common nicknames to proper names, such as adding -- Bob, Bobby, Rob to Robert -- eliminating manual entries by the system administrator. It also provides a large department acronyms template that automatically imports department acronyms present in directory source files and converts them into formats that can be used by text-to-speech and speech recognition engines, such as converting "mktg" to "marketing" or "svcs" to "services." SpeechAttendant also now supports the HL7 protocol required by healthcare providers and hospitals to speech-enable access to patient rooms without relying on operators and touch-tone systems. In addition, SpeechAttendant 8.1 adds new system performance reports to its extensive list of reports.

Improved Fault-Tolerance and Support for Complex Multi-Site Deployments
SpeechAttendant further enhances its redundancy and multi-site capabilities by allowing customers to easily accommodate for robust real-time redundancy and load-balancing. In addition, SpeechAttendant 8.1 offers increased flexibility for deployments in complex, distributed architectures as speech-enabled auto-attendants become mission-critical systems.

Professional Services Support

SpeechWorks employs the largest global professional services organization in the speech industry to help customers quickly develop and deploy high quality speech applications that delight callers. SpeechAttendant can be fully deployed in less than a week, depending on the size of the application. It includes prepackaged reporting and analysis tools so that system managers can easily monitor system performance and call traffic and further fine tune their application.

SpeechAttendant is distributed throughout North America and Europe through channels such as Bell Canada, British Telecom, NACR, NEC BNS, NextiraOne, SBC, Telus and others. The SpeechWorks division has broadened its channel distribution by adding new distributors including Call Processing, eNabling Technologies, Servion, SSP Telecom, The Via Group, and Vitec. In addition, the SpeechWorks division now offers a VoiceXML-based version so that standards-based platform providers worldwide can take advantage of the market leading auto-attendant solution. For additional information see the related release "ScanSoft Introduces OpenSpeech Attendant, A Field-Proven Auto-Attendant Solution for VoiceXML-Based Telephony Platform Providers," June 16, 2004.

Pricing and Availability

SpeechAttendant is available immediately. For additional information and pricing contact your local sales representative or visit www.scansoft.com/speech.

About the SpeechWorks Division of ScanSoft

SpeechWorks® is the most trusted name in speech. Through its global partner network, SpeechWorks delivers field-proven applications that revolutionize the way people interact. Today, thousands of companies and millions of users around the world depend on SpeechWorks solutions from ScanSoft to deliver vital business information and simplify every day life. For information, please visit www.scansoft.com/speech.

About ScanSoft, Inc.

ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT) is the global leader of speech and imaging 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 visitwww.ScanSoft.com.

ScanSoft, OpenSpeech, SpeechWorks, SpeechAttendant, Speechify, LEARN, and the ScanSoft logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. All other company or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Contact Information