A-America

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. and BLACKSBURG, Va., March 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Apprise Software, Inc., a leading provider of integrated ERP and supply chain management solutions for consumer goods distributors, and Internet Databases, a leading internet software provider focused on developing custom solutions for the home furnishings industry that enhance customer relationships through business-to-business transactions, sales force automation, online catalogs and order processing, announced today that A-America, Inc. has integrated its ERP application - Apprise(R) Distribution - with Internet Databases' FurnishWEB application to achieve improved sales efficiencies and enhanced customer service levels.

Headquartered in Seattle, WA, A-America is a leading importer and distributor of home furnishings for the bedroom, dining room, and home office. For over 30 years, A-America has had a history of profitable growth providing quality home furnishings, at competitive prices, to specialty and large chain furniture retailers throughout the United States and Canada. In a highly competitive market, A-America has been able to reduce costs, increase efficiencies, and deliver improved service to customers by consistently focusing on operational improvements.

A-America faced the challenge of needing to empower its representatives with improved access to real-time information on dealers, inventories, and pricing so they could sell more efficiently and provide better service to customers, without risking the security of its data that could come from providing representatives with access to its core ERP application. "A new representative told us about FurnishWEB, and we were excited to learn how easily it could be integrated with Apprise Distribution," said Kurtis Beach, information systems manager for A-America. A-America utilizes an automated daily update to share data between Apprise Distribution and FurnishWEB, giving representatives secure, real-time access to only the relevant information they need. "Our data remains secure, and we have a way to communicate real-time, accurate information to our representatives," continued Beach. "As a result, since its launch at the Las Vegas Market in January 2007, we've seen improved sales efficiencies, increased sales, and higher levels of customer service."

Apprise Distribution utilizes Web services to expose data elements for interoperability with external systems. Customers can easily integrate it with other applications utilizing Web services, ODBC connections, and/or an EDI interface. In addition to inventory and pricing information, Apprise Distribution and FurnishWEB can be further integrated to share additional data for extended application use, including order entry, order tracking, and invoice reporting. Extensive standard and customizable reports are available through both Apprise Distribution and FurnishWEB in a variety of formats and outputs.

"We are pleased to be working with Apprise Software to jointly provide tightly integrated solutions that meet the needs of the home furnishings industry," said Barry Welch, president of Internet Databases. "Together, we can offer customers a true beginning-to-end solution that will help them improve operating efficiencies and increase profitability."

"Through the integration with FurnishWEB, we are able to help our customers extend the value of their Apprise Distribution application to their representatives, without risking their data security," said Jeff Broadhurst, president of Apprise Software, Inc. "We look forward to continuing to work with Internet Databases to provide customers with leading industry-tailored solutions that deliver business performance improvements and a quick return on investment."

About A-America, Inc.

Headquartered in Seattle, WA, A-America is a leading importer and distributor of home furnishings for the bedroom, dining room and home office. For over 30 years, A-America has had a history of profitable growth providing quality home furnishings, at competitive prices, to specialty and large chain furniture retailers throughout the United States and Canada. In a highly competitive market, A-America has been able to reduce costs, increase efficiencies and deliver improved service to customers by consistently focusing on operational improvements. For more information about A-America, Inc. please visit http://www.a-america.com.

About Apprise Software, Inc.

Founded in 1984, and with offices in North America and China, Apprise Software, Inc. is a leading provider of enterprise-wide software solutions for mid-sized consumer goods distributors. Leveraging the latest technologies - such as Microsoft(R) .NET, wireless warehouse solutions, and RFID - along with industry best-practices, Apprise Software provides consumer goods distributors with global solutions that meet their unique business requirements while delivering reduced costs, improved efficiencies, enhanced revenues and profitability, and a quick return on investment. For more information about Apprise Software, Inc. please visit http://www.apprise.com.