Scansoft (R) Incorporated, founded in 1992 and based in Burlington, Massachusetts, develops speech and imaging systems. Its products allow Fortune 100 and other organizations to create and share print and digital documents. The firm, originally known as Visioneer Incorporated, developed scanner hardware and software products. The Visioneer sold its hardware line to Primax Electronics Limited. Later that year, the company acquired ScanSoft from Xerox Corporation. The firm then changed its name to ScanSoft Incorporated. A 2000 merger with Caere Corporation allowed the company to expand its document and electronic form scanning and conversion business. In 2001, it also acquired Lernout & Hauspie's speech and language technology unit. ScanSoft acquired Royal Philips Electronics' speech processing telephony and voice control divisions in 2003, supporting expansion into the call center market. The company also acquired SpeechWorks International Incorporated. ScanSoft supports 15 million end users across the health care, education, utilities, financial services, travel, telecommunications, and government sectors. The company markets products through a network of 2,000 channel partners. Its systems are embedded in a variety of commercial software programs. ScanSoft employs 1,100 people across 35 offices worldwide. Shares are traded on NASDAQ under the SSFT symbol. The firm and its products have won recognition from Frost & Sullivan. Competitors include ABBYY, I.R.I.S., and NewSoft.