ScanSoft Releases Speechify 3.0

PEABODY, MA - ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), a supplier of speech and imaging solutions, released Speechify® 3.0, the latest version of the Speechify Text-to-Speech (TTS) engine, featuring Speechify Jill, a new U.S. English voice for telephony-based applications. Speechify 3.0 includes several new features and enhancements designed to improve the caller experience, shorten application development time and reduce the cost of VoiceXML implementations. With this new release, ScanSoft expands its portfolio of TTS software that already includes Speechify and RealSpeak™ voices in its SpeechWorks® Suite of Network Speech Solutions. ScanSoft's TTS engines combine to offer 22 languages and 36 male and female voices. These solutions are widely used for stores and ATMs, 511 traffic and road conditions, weather reports, automated voice dialing, directory assistance and many others. "VoiceGenie is proud to incorporate the latest Speechify engine from ScanSoft into our VoiceXML speech platform," Adrian Lee Kwen, VoiceGenie Technologies vice president of engineering,. "Speechify 3.0 raises the bar yet again for quality and performance in text-to-speech and enables VoiceGenie to provide truly industry-leading speech solutions to its worldwide customer base." Speechify 3.0 includes Speechify Jill, a new U.S. English female voice. Jill is also available for embedded and desktop speech applications such as automotive navigation systems, electronic games and other multimedia. To listen to a sample of ScanSoft's natural-sounding Speechify Jill, visit http://www.scansoft.com/speechify/voices/. "With Speechify Jill, our customers now have access to an incredibly natural-sounding voice to enhance their speech applications," said Jonathan McIntosh, senior vice president of operations and technology at West Interactive. "With new features and tools, and increased performance capabilities to support large-scale deployments, the standards-based Speechify engine enables customers to seamlessly mix recorded prompts and TTS for a truly engaging caller experience." Speechify 3.0 enhancements include advanced e-mail pre-processor, increased scalability, postal address tag and language identifier 1.0. It is currently available and supports SAPI 5 (Speech Application Programming Interface), SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup Language), SALT (Speech Application Language Tags) and VoiceXML interfaces.