Patent ID: 6950933

Claim:
In a system adapted for monitoring for changes in condition of one or more electronic certificates, and adapted for communication with a user of the one or more electronic certificates, a method for notification of a change in condition of an electronic certificate, comprising: detecting a change in condition of the electronic certificate; notifying the user of the electronic certificate of the change in condition; allowing the user to download an updated version of the electronic certificate; forwarding an updated electronic certificate to the user concurrently with the step of notifying, thereby updating the electronic certificate; notifying the user by electronic mail; notifying the user by telephone using an electronic voice messaging system; notifying the user by providing a paging signal to a pager for the recipient; negotiating a contract with the user; wherein the change in condition detected in the detecting step consists of a change in condition including: revocation of, roll-over of, change in field of, disablement of, and expiration of the electronic certificate; wherein a graphical user interface is utilized to allow the user to negotiate electronic certificate monitoring service contract terms, the graphical user interface including a plurality of drop down menus each associated with one of the terms for allowing the user to select among a plurality of choices relating to the associated terms the terms including: the frequency in which the user is notified, including every month, every week, every day, and every minute, the type of change the user is notified of in the step of notifying, including the revocation of, the roll-over of, the change in field of, the disablement of, and the expiration of the electronic certificate, the way of notifying the user, including the electronic mail, the telephone using the electronic voice messaging system, and the paging signal to the pager for the recipient, the diligence with which the user is notified of the change in condition, including a number of times contact is attempted with the user, and a price for notifying the user.