"SpeedCall" Service Accelerates Taxi Booking Process Using Speechify Text-to-Speech Software to Confirm Pick-Up Locations

PEABODY, Mass. and SINGAPORE, September 3, 2003 - ScanSoft, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSFT), a leading supplier of speech and imaging solutions, today deployed "SpeedCall," an automated taxi booking service for Comfort, the leading taxi operator in Singapore. Comfort has accelerated the taxi booking process and made it friendlier for its customers using the award-winning Speechify™ text-to-speech (TTS) software, a member of the SpeechWorks® family of speech solutions from ScanSoft. Repeat customers can now bypass call center operators when booking a Comfort taxi via its Dial-A-Cab hotline at (65) 6552 1111. Comfort's data mapping technology automatically identifies repeat callers based on his or her telephone number, and using the Speechify engine, confirms the caller's most recent pick-up address.

Mr. John Lee, Chief Operating Officer of Comfort Transportation and Yellow-Top Cab, said, "Comfort is constantly exploring new ways to make taxi booking easier and faster for our customers. Harnessing Speechify text-to-speech software, as another form of automating our call processes, has made it more convenient for our customers and brings us another step closer to meeting our customers' needs of getting a taxi within the shortest time."

Improved Customer Service

On trial since March this year, SpeedCall has received positive reviews from customers. One key benefit highlighted by customers was the greater convenience and remarkable speed when booking a Comfort taxi. With SpeedCall, Comfort's CabLink is able to successfully match a taxi to a booking request in less than 25 seconds, which is half the time compared to an operator-assisted call.

Mrs. Tay Koon Siong, a regular Comfort customer, was impressed at how quickly her call booking from home was matched to a taxi. She said, "Since it wasn't the first time I had called from home, Comfort immediately identified my home address and within seconds, I was given a taxi number."

Miscommunication between customers and operators over the pick-up location is also eliminated as SpeedCall records the details of every pick-up point accurately from the first time the booking is received for future booking references.

While it translates to less waiting time for customers and a faster turnaround for Comfort CabLink to dispatch the next booking job, it also mean more automated booking jobs for drivers, especially during peak hours. Comfort Cabby Chua Eng Choon, a driver who has the highest average number of taxi bookings a month, is delighted with the enhanced automated taxi booking service.

"The promise of more booking jobs translates into more income for me. I am looking forward to bidding for more jobs." Cabby Chua recorded about 960 booking jobs from April to July this year, of which 40 percent of them were through the automated booking modes.

Comfort, the Singapore market leader with a fleet of over 11,300 taxis, services almost 400,000 passenger trips a day. Comfort CabLink (its satellite dispatch system) dispatches between 25,000 to 30,000 bookings on an average day, some days reaching a peak of 40,000 successful bookings. Automated bookings have become increasingly popular. During the five-month trial run using SpeedCall, Comfort's automated booking jobs increased by over 30 percent. Plans are in the pipeline to further enhance the system. Currently, SpeedCall is available only for fixed telephone lines.

"Comfort is well known for providing innovative services for its customers and we are delighted to be working with them to enhance its customer service," said Steve Chambers, general manager of Network Speech Solutions at ScanSoft. "This is the first application of Speechify for taxi booking services in Singapore, and it adds to an impressive list of 'firsts' for ScanSoft in the Asia Pacific region."

About Comfort

Comfort owns the largest satellite-linked fleet of over 11,300 taxis in the world. Comfort's fleet of taxis makes over 395,000 trips a day. The Comfort CabLink customer contact centre successfully handles over 8.5 million taxi bookings a year and is the most successful taxi booking centre in Singapore. Technological advances are monitored and tapped upon to make taxi booking a fuss-free affair. The young, the old, the IT-savvy and those who are not will find various modes of cab bookings to suit their lifestyles.

About ScanSoft, Inc.

ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT) is a leading supplier 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 visit www.scansoft.com.

Trademark reference: ScanSoft, the ScanSoft logo and Speechify are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other company or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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