ScanSoft Launches PaperPort Deluxe 8.0

Targeted At Reducing the Cost to Businesses In Meeting Their Image and Document Management Needs Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- ScanSoft(R), Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), a global leader in paper-to-digital solutions, announces the immediate availability of the world's best-selling paper management software, PaperPort Deluxe(R) 8.0. This new version of PaperPort Deluxe brings static paper documents into the digital environment enabling users to scan, store, organize, retrieve and use paper documents on their computer along with all of their existing PC documents.

This latest version of the software allows business users to work in a shared environment. Users can store their documents locally and share with others without requiring the IT overhead structures and high costs of larger, more expensive image and document management systems implementations. PaperPort Deluxe includes a highly secure, Web-based document storage and collaboration service called PaperPortOnline(TM) that allows organizations to store, share and collaborate with colleagues inside and outside of the company.

PaperPort Deluxe 8.0 enables an individual or an entire office to use a simple desktop application to find and share documents in a network file cabinet, significantly increasing organization and productivity by reducing the amount of time spent manually searching for documents. Once documents are managed digitally, users benefit from faster, more reliable access, fewer lost documents, reduced storage costs, and significantly less physical mail.

Property manager Jim Valentine of Red Oak Property Management utilizes PaperPort 8.0 to scan rental applications and agreements, fax them directly to clients through the PC and later file them on his PaperPort desktop.

"PaperPort 8.0 is intuitive and self-explanatory, so there's no ramp-up time or training required," said Valentine. "The entire program is incredibly quick and easy to use." Small firms such as Red Oak have found that PaperPort's easy to use, state-of-the-art technology at an affordable price allows them to effectively compete with large companies that have invested tens of thousands of dollars in high-end document management systems.

New in PaperPort Deluxe 8.0: PaperPortOnline Collaboration Services
With the purchase of PaperPort Deluxe 8.0, customers receive a one year subscription to PaperPortOnline, a Web-based storage, management, and collaboration service that includes 25 mega-bytes of storage and unlimited access to the collaboration capabilities. PaperPortOnline extends PaperPort's capabilities in digital document management by enabling businesses to store, share, distribute and edit digital documents, as well as communicate with remote colleagues and customers who are not PaperPort 8.0 users. Businesses have found PaperPortOnline to be an invaluable feature-rich workspace for effectively collaborating on documents including contract negotiations, product specification plans and editing legal paperwork.

Once posted to the PaperPortOnline Web site, documents are stored and managed in a highly secure, password protected "vault" using industry-standard SSL (Secure Socket Layers). The document servers are also stored in a physically secure location to ensure the highest level of document safety and integrity. PaperPortOnline allows users to experience faster turnaround times on projects and enjoy increased productivity without the expense and hassle of complex IT solutions. PaperPortOnline reduces the use of in-house office equipment, provides support for handheld devices, faster review and approval processes, and significantly decreases the risk of communication errors that can occur with email attachments, as it ensures multiple people are all working with the latest version of the document all the time.

PaperPort Incorporates New Features and Enhancements
As the best selling paper management software package, with a strong customer following worldwide, PaperPort Deluxe 8.0 software has been created through customer feedback with an emphasis on performance, reliability and ease of use. A significant new feature is support for standard file formats like JPEG and TIFF, making it easier to work with scanned documents and digital photos in a wide range of popular office applications formats. Several enhanced "ease of use" features have also been added, including an explorer- like "Details" view to quickly sort a folder full of files by name, date, size or other properties, and an updated user interface designed to work like other common Windows-based programs. Additionally, PaperPort 8.0 has been designed to work with new releases of popular software such as Windows XP, Office XP, AOL, Netscape mail, Quicken and more.

"The research we conducted on our 3.5 million registered PaperPort users revealed that making scanning and managing digital paper easier was their highest priority," said Wayne Crandall, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for ScanSoft. "In developing PaperPort 8.0, we focused on bringing the sharing and collaboration capabilities to users, with a significant emphasis on improving the overall user experience."

PaperPort 8.0 Streamlines Business Processes and Increases Productivity
Businesses in a broad range of industries have found PaperPort 8.0 to be the ideal solution for managing, organizing and sharing paper-based documents digitally. Paper-intensive businesses, including law firms, insurance agencies, real estate agencies, medical offices and accounting firms, rely on PaperPort 8.0 to streamline tedious processes, cut costs and save time.

"We expect PaperPort to save our employees a great amount of work and eliminate employee 'downtime' associated with copying reference materials," said Dr. Douglas Hanson, Chief Information Officer at The Forsyth Institute, a biomedical research facility in Boston. "PaperPort 8.0 will become one of the primary software tools in our research and teaching environment." The Institute used PaperPort 8.0 to create a digital copy center to cut back on the time and resources associated with making paper copies. Research staffers email their requests for copies of reference materials to the Institute's librarians and receive digital copies delivered directly to their desktops.

PaperPort Deluxe Features and Benefits

• PaperPort Desktop -- PaperPort's attractive and intuitive desktop offers the entire office a way to file and find documents on their computer or the network. PaperPort(R) can be used to browse any Windows folder, including the "My Documents" folder so existing documents do not need to be moved into PaperPort.



• Visual File Management -- Save time and frustration by finding scanned documents, photos and PC documents based on their appearance. Thumbnail views of scanned documents and photos, as well as PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, WordPerfect and other file formats, provide a "preview" of documents without opening them.



• SimpleSearch feature -- SimpleSearch(R) ensures reliable access to all critical office documents. Quickly and easily locate any document, including PDF files, by content, title, keyword or annotations using technology enabled by OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to "read" and search scanned documents. SimpleSearch works for documents stored locally on the desktop, on the office network or on removable media such as CDs and Zip drives.



• Digital Paper -- Save scanned documents in a small file format that preserves the page exactly as it is on paper - just like photocopying paper onto a computer. Add annotations that allow you to add notes and comments to digital documents without altering the original - includes highlighting, sticky-notes, arrows and stamps.



• Image Cleanup Tools -- Correct and heal image imperfections, making documents look great. Intuitive editing tools like cropping, straightening and rotating are fast and easy. Also great for making digital photos look just like real life.



• FormTyper(TM) -- Scan a form and fill it in with a PC. PaperPort finds the fields so users can just tab and type, saving tedious retyping when filling in multiple copies of a form.



• Text Capture -- Save time on retyping. Drag and drop scanned documents to word processing programs and turn documents into editable text. Copy a portion of a scanned document to the clipboard and paste plain text into a word processor or an email.



• Web Capture -- PaperPort lets users store the entire contents of a Web page on a desktop for reference anytime without connecting. Users can even annotate or edit the document. Later, one click brings users back to the originating Web site. Plus, captured pages are indexed for quick and easy searching.



• Performance Improvements -- A new OCR engine and other enhancements make PaperPort 8.0 faster and more accurate when indexing, up to four times faster at generating thumbnails and significantly more accurate when converting color and grayscale files into editable text.



• Input Device support -- PaperPort supports a wide range of scanners, networked digital copiers, MFPs and digital cameras.

Pricing and Availability
Available immediately from your preferred reseller, the suggested price of PaperPort Deluxe 8.0 is $99.99. Existing PaperPort users may upgrade can upgrade for $69.99. PaperPort Deluxe 8.0 is also available in multi-user licenses or through customized commercial and government volume license agreements. Call (800) 654-1187 or visit www.scansoft.com for additional information. PaperPort 8.0 includes a one-year subscription to PaperPort Online and includes 25MB of storage. Subscriptions to PaperPortOnline may be purchased separately for $60.00 per year.

About ScanSoft, Inc.
Headquartered in Peabody, Mass., with European headquarters in The Netherlands, ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT) is a global leader in paper-to- digital solutions for desktop, network, Internet and mobile environments that enable users to leverage the power of their scanners, digital cameras and other electronic devices. ScanSoft's award-winning product line - OmniPage Pro, TextBridge Pro, PaperPort Deluxe, Pagis Pro, OmniForm, eOmniForm, and numerous software developer's kits - enables users to capture, recognize, edit, manage and share documents and photos electronically by taking advantage of ScanSoft's cutting-edge technology.

ScanSoft has established numerous strategic partnerships with the industry's leading scanner and multifunction vendors to deliver the most comprehensive and cost-effective solutions for its customers. Vendors who have chosen ScanSoft's cutting-edge products and technologies include Brother, Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM/Lotus, Mustek, Primax, Sharp, Symantec Corporation, Visioneer, Xerox and others. ScanSoft's leading technologies have been licensed by Microsoft for use in Office XP and other future products. ScanSoft continues to cultivate and develop strategic partnerships to deliver the most comprehensive and cost-effective solutions for its customers.

ScanSoft software is sold, marketed and supported worldwide through retail, dealer and OEM channels and the Internet, capturing the small to medium size business and corporate markets. There are more than eight million registered users of ScanSoft products. ScanSoft can be found on the Web at www.scansoft.com.

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SOURCE ScanSoft, Inc.