EXHIBIT 5

                                BROOKTROUT, INC.
                           250 FIRST AVENUE, SUITE 300
                          NEEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS 02494



                                                           December 28, 2001


Brooktrout, Inc.
250 First Avenue, Suite 300
Needham, Massachusetts 02494

         Re:      Registration Statement on Form S-8
                  Relating to 2,100,000 Shares of
                  Common Stock, $.01 par value, of Brooktrout, Inc.
                  -------------------------------------------------

Ladies and Gentlemen:

         I am Corporate Counsel to Brooktrout, Inc., a Massachusetts corporation
(the "Company"), and have acted as counsel in connection with the preparation
and filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), of a Registration Statement on Form
S-8 (the "Registration Statement"), relating to two million one hundred thousand
(2,100,000) shares of the Company's common stock, par value $.01 per share (the
"Registered Shares"), which may be issued pursuant to the Brooktrout, Inc. 2001
Stock Option and Incentive Plan, the Brooktrout, Inc. Second Amended and
Restated 1992 Stock Purchase Plan and the Brooktrout, Inc. 1999 Incentive Plan,
as amended (together, the "Plans").

         As counsel for the Company, I have examined copies of each Plan, the
Registration Statement, and the Company's Restated Articles of Organization, as
amended, and Amended and Restated By-laws, each as presently in effect, such
records of the corporate proceedings of the Company as deemed to be material and
such other certificates, receipts, records, and other documents as I have deemed
necessary or appropriate for the purposes of this opinion.

         I am an attorney admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. I express no opinion concerning the laws of any jurisdictions
other than the laws of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, and also express no opinion with respect to the blue sky or
securities laws of any state, including Massachusetts.

         Based on the foregoing, I am of the opinion that, when the Registered
Shares are sold and paid for pursuant to the terms of the Plans, the Registered
Shares will be duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable by
the Company under the Business Corporation Law of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts.

         The foregoing assumes that all requisite steps will be taken to comply
with the requirements of the Securities Act and applicable requirements of state
laws regulating the offer and sale of securities.

         I hereby consent to being named as counsel to the Company in the
Registration Statement and to the inclusion of this opinion as an exhibit to the
Registration Statement.

                                           Very truly yours,

                                           /s/  Natalie J. Muecke

                                           Natalie J. Muecke
                                           Corporate Counsel and Assistant Clerk