People who want to buy business registration documents through the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs — including certified copies — can now do so online.

The state gets about 120 such document requests each month, said Tung Chan, division chief of the department's Business Registration Division, and at least half as many requests for certified documents.

The new service will help businesses obtain filed and certified documents with greater ease and convenience, she said. More than 100,000 documents are available for immediate download.

Documents that are not available for immediate download can be e-mailed to the purchaser within three days.

She said people pay a fee for the online service but the change allows consumers to get most of the information right away by paying with a credit card. Under the old system, consumers would have to go to the office or make a written request and pay by check, a process that could take five days and proved especially cumbersome for folks on the Neighbor Islands.

The service was initially launched in a pilot version and received top honors in May for technological innovation given by the International Association of Commercial Administrators, Chan said.

"It's exciting to have our new online purchasing service recognized as one of the most innovative developments in the country for online business registration services," she said.

The office also improved other areas of the Web site, keeping free information available and adding more printing options.

People who had been using the test program told state officials that they wanted to be able to print without color or large graphics, so the site was modified to provide that, Chan said.