SoftCity Enhances Scope of Services Available to Software Developers

Social commerce site SoftCity facilitates customer support for Avanquest Software

MONTREAL – September 22, 2010 - SoftCity, the first social commerce website dedicated to software, today announced that it will now host the online customer support facility in North America for Avanquest Software (EPA: AVQ), a leading global software developer and publisher with popular software brands including Nova Development and Hallmark. SoftCity offers its developer partners the tools to ensure leading edge customer service in several formats to best suit customer needs, including online chat, telephone support and email. (Please click here to view the home page for technical support for all Avanquest products.)

SoftCity enables Avanquest to be in direct contact with its most passionate and devoted users. Full support is provided for all products by Avanquest staff, who are responsible for populating SoftCity with valuable support materials. Avanquest product managers and developers directly talk to end users, allowing them to learn from users and create solutions that better meet their needs. SoftCity's forums provide another outlet for customers seeking help to tap a large pool of software experts and enthusiasts. Users, or "SoftCitizens," are then rewarded with an online currency called SoftDollars for answering questions or offering tips to members.

Initially merely a tool for communication and discussions, the social network is gradually becoming the cornerstone of software use on the Internet. Using SoftCity as a "Social Customer Care" destination, Avanquest positions itself among the forerunners in the software industry. "SoftCity gathers a growing number of passionate software experts in an ideal online destination where customer concerns can really be taken care of," commented Bruno Vanryb, co-founder, President and CEO of Avanquest Software. "By partnering with SoftCity for its online customer support facility, Avanquest demonstrates its commitment to provide an improved software experience to its users while meeting growing demands for genuine interaction."

"SoftCity allows us to provide our users an improved customer care experience and the benefit of SoftCity's experts community, said Roger S. Bloxberg, Chief Executive Officers, Avanquest North America, Inc. "With SoftCity, we make an even more meaningful commitment to help our customers with any problems they may have with their software."

"We are pleased to offer another benefit to SoftCity developers and their customers," added Blaise Rabaud, co-founder and CEO of SoftCity. "SoftCity developers can now integrate full- service technical support into their SoftCity online stores in addition to receiving generous sales commissions, account support, marketing expertise, sales tracking and access to the Microsoft® BizSpark™ Program."

SoftCity enables its software developer partners like Avanquest to utilize the social commerce site for all software activities such as to promote and sell software, interact with customers directly, cross-promote with other developers, earn commissions through affiliate sales and purchases, and now provide customer support to end users.

To get the latest updates, follow SoftCity on Twitter.

About SoftCity
SoftCity is the first social commerce website dedicated to software enthusiasts. The online site merges a social media community with an online shopping marketplace to purchase software. SoftCity developers, users and experts interact in a community via the SoftCity Café that provides knowledge, expertise, and resources as well as a chance to earn SoftDollars, a virtual currency, to use in the SoftCity Marketplace. The Marketplace provides users the chance to try and buy software while earning more SoftDollars for each purchase. For the first time, software users have one online community for all their software needs. Visit www.SoftCity.com and become part of the first community for software enthusiasts.

About Avanquest Software
Avanquest Software (EPA: AVQ), is a world leader in developing and publishing software for businesses and consumers, in categories ranging from mobility to utilities by way of multimedia. Avanquest Software strives to ensure that all its software can interact, so that the convergence between the PC, Internet services and the smart phone is as complete and secure as possible. The passion that drives our teams, the high technological added value of the software and the solid presence of the Group in North America, Europe and Asia make Avanquest Software one of the top 10 consumer software publishers in the world. Since it was established in 1984, the company has put innovation at the core of its business and invested heavily every year in research and development, supporting its teams of engineers scattered throughout France, the United States, Canada and China, working every day to create the best software today and tomorrow. Avanquest Software has been listed on Euronext since 1996. For any additional information, please visit these sites http://www.avanquest.com or http://group.avanquest.com.

Contacts:
Marc-Antoine Ross
SoftCity
Email: mross@softcity.com

Fran Bosecker
Vantage Communications (For SoftCity)
Tel: +845-536-1416
Email: fbosecker@pr-vantage.com




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