"Enhancing customer service through innovative uses of technology is a priority for the Department of the Secretary of State," said Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap. "We believe it's important to make services available to the people of Maine in convenient, accessible and cost-effective ways. This new enhancement is another example of how we're making government information and services available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." Maine's interactive corporate records service was launched in May of 2001 and consists of a comprehensive suite of online services that offers electronic access to both free and for-a-fee corporate information. Users of the service can perform basic corporate name searches, retrieve copies of corporate filings and images, download certificates of existence, and file annual reports. More than 18,000 corporate record requests were processed online in 2004.
The service was previously available only to subscribers, and customers needed a username and password to gain access to corporate records. The system is now more easily accessible to the public and accepts Visa and MasterCard payments through Maine.gov's secure payment server. Customers can download corporate documents in certified or uncertified format, and records can be printed for immediate use.
Additionally, certified copies of corporate records and certificates of existence can be confirmed through the online service. There is no charge for the authentication service, which is designed to verify the authenticity of certified electronic documents. Users simply type in the unique authentication number of a certified document and the site verifies the precise date and time the document was delivered electronically.
"Our office has made customer service a priority, and we are pleased to offer enhancements to our existing services," said Tim Poulin, Director of Corporations. "This upgrade of Maine's interactive corporate services offers even more convenience to our businesses and citizens."
Maine's interactive corporate records system is one of many online services offered by the Department of the Secretary of State in partnership with the Information Resource of Maine (InforME), the state of Maine's private-sector partner and official Web portal provider.
About Maine.gov
Maine.gov is the award-winning official Web site of the state of Maine (www.Maine.gov) and a service of the Information Resource of Maine. InforME is a collaborative effort between the state of Maine and New England Interactive, LLC, which helps Maine government entities Web-enable their information services. Maine.gov was built and is marketed, operated, and maintained by New England Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC (Nasdaq: EGOV).
Quelle: Business Wire, 09.06.2005
