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Online Business Entity Searches at www.mt.gov Deliver Value to Montana Businesses and the Secretary of State

The Business Entity Search service allows anyone to search for information on companies registered to do business in Montana, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Businesses such as banks use the service to produce on-demand certificates verifying the company in question is in good standing. The online service is available through the state’s official Web site at http://www.mt.gov.

Launched in 2001, the Business Entity Search system has now become one of the most popular and most used online services in Montana, with more than 427,000 visits in 2005 alone.

Since Business Entity Search has been available online, the Montana Secretary of State’s office has taken advantage of dramatic efficiencies:

* Monthly phone calls to the Secretary of State’s office asking for information about Montana businesses have been cut nearly in half, from an average of 6,000 per month to about 3,500.

* The drastic reduction in phone calls has allowed the Secretary of State’s office to re-task one employee from answering phones to other important tasks in the office.

* 79% of all certificates are now produced online and printed in the customer’s home or office. This means they do not have to be produced, signed, and mailed by the Secretary of State’s office, saving the state both time and money.

* With fewer certificates to fulfill by hand, the turnaround time for the manual process has gone from 10 days to less than three days.

Business Entity Search is the result of an alliance between state government and the private sector. The system was cooperatively developed and is supported by the Secretary of State, Department of Administration’s Information Technology Services Division, and Montana Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment provider NIC (Nasdaq: EGOV – News).

"Public-private partnerships such as this are something I strongly support and encourage," said Secretary of State Brad Johnson. "Business Entity Search allows my office to continue to meet the high standards and goals I’ve set for serving the people of Montana. We intend to build on the success of this online system as we increase our offering of online services."

About Montana Interactive

Helena-based Montana Interactive built, operates, and maintains the state’s eGovernment services that are available through the official Web site (http://www.mt.gov) and is a wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC.

About NIC

NIC manages more eGovernment services than any provider in the world. The company helps government communicate more effectively with citizens and businesses by putting essential services online. NIC provides eGovernment solutions for 2,200 state and local agencies that serve more than 60 million people in the United States. Additional information is available at http://www.nicusa.com.

Contact:

http://www.mt.gov

Sandi Miller, 406-449-EGOV

[email protected]

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