Sales of Nuance’s Dragon NaturallySpeaking Desktop Software Soars By 140%

Dragon NaturallySpeaking provides solution for health, legislative and productivity challenges in the workplace

LONDON, United Kingdom, 9 March, 2006 – Nuance Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: NUAN), formerly known as ScanSoft and a global leader of speech and imaging solutions, today announced that new Government initiatives relating to health and safety at work, the increasing public awareness of the potential risk of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) at the desktop, and the NHS programme to reduce patient report turnaround times, have been critical in driving increased demand for Nuance’s desktop-based speech recognition technology, Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Other factors that have contributed to its 140% sales increase*, include the realisation of the productivity benefits delivered by the technology, its 99% accuracy rates and greatly reduced enrolment times. As mainstream PCs have become increasingly sophisticated - featuring more powerful processors and greatly increased memory - speech recognition software now has the optimum platform on which to deliver real business value and health benefits at the desktop, and throughout an organisation.

An effective and reliable alternative to the keyboard and mouse for entering data, Nuance’s Dragon Dictation Solutions enable users to dictate at up to 160 words per minute, far more than they can type. This can lead to an immediate improvement in worker productivity, by reducing the time it takes to create a typical document. This has been dramatically illustrated in a recent trial at King’s College Hospital, in London. At the Hospital, a trial was designed to find a solution that would reduce report creation times in order to meet new NHS waiting time targets. By using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, cancer patient report turnaround times have been reduced by 50%, which has resulted in cancer patients receiving potentially life-saving treatment far more quickly.

In addition to the real-world productivity benefits delivered by Dragon NaturallySpeaking, the technology could play a role in helping to reduce the risk of suffering from a desktop-related RSI injury. Currently, one in 50 of all workers in the UK report an RSI condition¹ – and 5.4million working days a year lost through sick leave due to this condition². With growing awareness of the possible dangers of RSI - which covers a wide range of injuries to muscles, tendons and nerves, usually affecting hands, wrists, elbows or shoulders – and an ageing workforce, employers are increasingly offering their employers the option to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking. More details on how to avoid RSI injuries at the desktop can be found at www.nuance.co.uk

Voice recognition technology can also be used by people who already suffer from upper-body mobility issues, as it enables them to interface with their PC without using the mouse, or keyboard. The provision of this technology offers a career life-line to the resource pool of people whose disabilities may have previously restricted their career options. At the same time, deploying Dragon NaturallySpeaking ensures that existing staff with upper-body mobility problems can be just as productive at the desktop as their colleagues.

Peter Hauser, senior vice president and general manager Nuance International said: “Nuance is not surprised that sales of Dragon NaturallySpeaking have increased by 140%. The product is a multi-faceted solution addressing a range of critical productivity, health and legislative challenges faced by employers and employees alike. The considerable demand for Dragon NaturallySpeaking shows that not only are these challenges being taken seriously, but that Dragon NaturallySpeaking is the right solution to address them. With the increasing prevalence of speech technology as an interface, even more consumers will become open to the concept - and the benefits - of using speech at the desktop, especially as many of today’s platforms are finally robust enough to allow the software to deliver optimum performance and results.”

Pricing and Availability of Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Nuance Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 Standard, Preferred, and Professional are available through Nuance’s global network of reseller partners and VAR network. The Standard version is available through retail and is priced at £79.99. The Preferred version is available through retail and is priced at £149.99. The Professional version is available through Nuance’s VAR network and costs £467.00 excluding VAT. The products support Office 2003, XP, and 2000, on Microsoft Windows XP and 2000. For additional information on features, pricing and volume licensing programs, please visit www.nuance.co.uk

Using speech technology at the desktop is one of many ways that desktop-based employees can enhance their overall productivity. For more advice on how to become more efficient during the working day, please visit: http://www.nuance.co.uk/news/20050907_backtowork.asp

*note to editors
140% sales increase, 2001 – 2005. Source; ScanSoft UK. This increase has been measured by taking the number of units sold in 2000 as a starting base, and adding this to the extra units sold since 2000.

¹, ²Source: TUC, 2002/2003

About Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance (Nasdaq: SSFT) 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 and professional services. For more information regarding Nuance products and technologies, please visit www.nuance.com.

Nuance, the Nuance logo, ScanSoft, Dragon and NaturallySpeaking are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performances are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with market trends, competitive factors, and other risks identified in the Company’s SEC filings. Actual results, event 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.

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