Remarkable Speed and Accuracy Gains, Patented One-Button Scanning, PDF Compression and Revolutionary Watson Search Agent Combine in the Most Significant PaperPort Release Ever

AIIMexpo 2006, PHILADELPHIA – May 16, 2006 – Nuance Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: NUAN), a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions, today introduced ScanSoft® PaperPort® Professional 11, the most significant new release of the world’s most popular scanning and document management application for Microsoft Windows. More than 50 new features and enhancements in PaperPort Professional 11 are combined with dramatic speed and accuracy improvements to make it easier than ever to win the war against paper and organize all of the documents and files on your PC.

PaperPort is used by millions of people every day to scan, search and organize documents and photographs on a personal PC or across a network. Even though the number of scan-enabled devices shipped each year has grown to over 15 million, including All-in-One devices and multifunction peripherals, millions of PC users and business professionals have the perception that scanning and document management software is complex and expensive. With the introduction of PaperPort Professional 11, Nuance proves that everyone can benefit from scanning and document management through a product that is both affordable and easy to use.

“We have relied on PaperPort for our scanning and document management needs for over five years and this is far and away the fastest, most powerful PaperPort ever,” said Larry Tabert, system administrator, L&L Nursery Supply. “It is clear that Nuance has listened to the needs of the PaperPort community, delivering enhancements that make this an invaluable upgrade. PaperPort still stands alone as the easy and affordable way to put scanning and document management on every business desktop.”

PaperPort Professional 11 significantly improves document productivity by delivering speed improvements of more than 200 percent and increasing optical character recognition (OCR) accuracy by 40 percent for better search indexing and text extraction. In addition, the new version also includes PDF-MRC compression technology, which creates industry-standard scanned color PDF files that are up to eight times smaller than those created by alternative PDF applications. Finally, the new PaperPort Watson Intelligent Search Agent featured in PaperPort Professional 11 finds content indexed by PaperPort® All-in-One Search™, the Web and Google, MSN, Yahoo and X1 desktop search products – all with a single keyword or phrase.

“PaperPort has become one of our fastest growing products, not only because of the increased availability of scanning, but also because people experience document productivity benefits within minutes of installation,” said John Shagoury, president of the Productivity Applications Division at Nuance. “With PaperPort 11 we’ve focused on what people love about the product – taking the pain out of scanning and making it easy to organize all their files on a PC.”

PaperPort Professional 11 Highlights

• Fastest PaperPort Ever – The dramatic speed improvements in PaperPort 11 will amaze users and can provide every organization with a powerful, new way to organize all of their local and network files. Navigation speed has been increased by over 200 percent for moving between folders, which is especially valuable for folders containing hundreds or thousands of files. Program start-up time as well as the speed and technique of generating thumbnail representations of existing files are also greatly improved.
  
  
• Easy, One-Button Scanning – Compatible with practically every scanner, All-in-One, multifunction printer and digital copier, PaperPort Professional 11 makes it easy for everyone to get professional scanning results from single page documents to newsprint and large stacks of duplex pages. Its patented One-Button Scanning™ encapsulates what requires multiple manual steps in other products into “one button” in PaperPort. PaperPort 11 also makes it easier to scan large multi-page document sets, providing a new Capture Assistant to view, reorder, copy and delete pages before storing them in PaperPort or other content management system.
  
  
• PaperPort Watson Intelligent Search Agent – PaperPort Professional 11 introduces PaperPort Watson, a new search agent from Intellext that understands what people are working on and can collect information from any Web search engine, desktop search application, blog, news site, subscription service and their company's information systems. PaperPort Watson, with a single keyword or phrase, finds relevant information from any or all of these sources and automatically displays results in a flexible sidebar next to PaperPort.
  
  
• Amazing Accuracy – PaperPort 11 delivers a 40 percent increase in OCR accuracy, which is used to automatically index documents for archive and search, and to convert paper into documents and text that you can edit. PaperPort can index and extract text from documents in 56 languages. li>
  
  
• Unrivaled PDF Value – To match the robust PDF capabilities in PaperPort Professional 11 customers would need to purchase multiple products – and still fall short in finding the value of PDF in PaperPort. The new release includes new file compression technology, called PDF-MRC, that creates industry-standard PDF files that are up to eight times smaller than what alternative products offer, making it easier than ever to share paper documents over email and the Web. PaperPort Professional 11 enables users to create PDF from any PC application, and supports the ability to view, print, annotate, highlight and secure PDF files. Users can also assemble scanned images and documents in various formats into a new PDF stack with drag-and-drop ease.
  
  
• Clear and Clean Scans – PaperPort includes point-and-click image correction tools called Scanner Enhancement Technology, or SET™, tools which automatically correct bad scans and enhance digital photographs. The new release adds SET operations to One-Button Scanning, and expands SET tools with color drop out as well as foreground and background correction. This allows users to get high-quality results even for text on top of color backgrounds and overcoming bleed-through from ultra-thin paper. The new SET capabilities are ideal for scanning invoices, receipts, magazine articles and newsprint, as well as for enhancing and editing photographs.

To see more of the new and exciting features in PaperPort Professional 11, please visit Nuance.com/PaperPort.

“Nuance once again raises the bar with the well thought out scanning and search capabilities in PaperPort Professional 11,” said Bill Wray, owner of Lexington Imaging Solutions in Lexington, South Carolina. “Its robust functionality, ease of use and affordability combine to provide even the most hesitant of users with what they need to succeed.”

Pricing and Availability

ScanSoft PaperPort Professional 11 from Nuance, targeting office professionals and workgroups, is priced at $199.99, with multi-seat and enterprise site license discounts available. PaperPort 11, targeting home and small office customers, is $99.99. Both products will be available no later than June 1, 2006 through Nuance’s global network of authorized eCommerce, retail and corporate/government/academic resellers. For additional information please visit Nuance.com/PaperPort or call Nuance at (1) 800-443-7077.

ScanSoft Imaging Solutions

Through unrivaled features, accuracy and performance, ScanSoft Imaging Solutions from Nuance eliminate barriers to productivity by enabling people and organizations to automate a range of document processes – increasing productivity, saving time and reducing costs. With products for enterprises, small-to-medium-sized businesses and home offices, ScanSoft Imaging Solutions are used to put the power of PDF on every business desktop; convert paper and PDF into documents that can be easily edited; and simplify scanning and document management using multifunction scanners and networked digital copiers. To experience new levels of productivity, please visit Nuance.com/ScanSoft.

Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance (Nasdaq: NUAN) is the leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance's proven applications. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

Nuance, the Nuance logo, All-in-One Search, One-Button Scanning, PaperPort, ScanSoft, and SET are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other company names or product names 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 Nuance’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.