Patent ID: 6865260

Claim:
A method for providing a status certification for a message in a communications network, the communications network including a messaging system, the messaging system performing a method, comprising: receiving said messages and assigning a message identifier to said message at the messaging system, the message generated by a sender and distributed to a recipient of the message, wherein the recipient is a subscriber to a messaging service provided by the messaging system; creating a first disposition identifier in response to a first disposition event, the disposition event including at least one of a managing event and a dispatching event; associating said first disposition identifier with said message; receiving a request for a status notification of said message from the sender said message, the sender being a non-subscriber of the messaging service; compiling said message identifier and said first disposition identifier to generate a first status notification; and providing said first status notification to said sender in response to said request; creating a second disposition identifier in response to a second disposition event occurring subsequent to said first disposition event, the second disposition event including at least one of a managing event and a dispatching event; associating said second disposition identifier with said message; compiling said message identifier and said second disposition identifier to generate a second status notification; and providing said second status notification to said sender.