Apple now supports RCS in iOS 18 release —here’s what it means for business messaging.
Rich Communications Services (RCS) is now supported on iPhone—here’s what you need to know, and why it’s an ideal opportunity to expand your business messaging.
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Apple’s iOS 18 been called one of the biggest iOS updates ever and now that it's live, we’re inclined to agree —not least because it brings Rich Communications Services (RCS) support to iPhones for the first time.*
In the run-up to its release, we could theorize how Apple RCS support on iPhone would look based on its beta version, and we’re delighted to say that it delivers the seamless cross-platform multimedia messaging that many users have requested for years.
The latest iPhone device settings menu will allow you to toggle RCS Messages and RCS Business Messages (RBM) on or off. This means, just short of a year since its announcement in November 2023, iPhone and Android users will now be able to engage in rich, app-like conversations using their device’s default texting software.
For those familiar with Android-to-iPhone messaging as it once was, you’ll be relieved to learn that this puts an end to pixelated image sharing and the inability to leave group chats, while adding real-time typing indicators and read receipts. And with confirmed support for RBM, it’s an ideal time to level up your messaging strategy to deliver smarter, more engaging customer interactions.
Juniper Research forecasts that by 2025, Apple’s support of RCS will help add 900 million new active users to the channel.
In this article, we’ll unpack the RCS features you need to know, how it compares to other business messaging solutions like Cisco’s Branded Text, and what you’ll need to elevate the customer experience with connected, omni-channel messaging journeys.
The headline benefits of RCS
Think of RCS as an evolution of SMS. It offers the same simple and direct messaging experience, but with many of the quality-of-life features you’d expect to find in over-the-top apps like WhatsApp. But RCS works right out of the box—no download is required.
This removes friction and lowers the barrier to entry, enabling everyone with compatible devices to engage in more compelling multimedia messaging. Plus, both peer-to-peer (P2P) and business-to-person (B2P) contacts can track conversations in real-time with live typing indicators and read receipts, and stay connected thanks to more reliable support for Wi-Fi and cellular networks.
When used for business interactions, RBM for B2P messaging lets you:
Enhance engagement with high-resolution media, including gifs, video, image carousels, and interactive content cards.
Build trust and protect users from fraud with verified sender checkmarks, and in-channel branding.
Guide customer journeys and integrate multiple transactions in a single message with bespoke, one-touch action buttons and suggested replies.
Integrate third-party apps such as online banking services to help centralize customer transactions and deliver more convenient experiences.
Personalize and automate customer interactions using historical and real-time data by integrating RCS with your backend systems.
Of course, a channel like RCS is only valuable if people are using it—and they are. RCS has more than 1 billion monthly users, which will likely grow significantly following its arrival on iPhone.
In fact, Juniper Research forecasts that by 2025, Apple’s support of RCS will help add 900 million new active users to the channel and increase global operator revenue from RCS business messaging traffic by 500%. This rapid growth will likely make RCS the go-to channel for digital messaging, further elevating customer expectations and driving businesses to embrace the protocol as a competitive necessity.
RCS brings new life to business messaging
RCS and RBM are helping to improve customer and citizen engagement for some of the world’s leading brands and public service agencies.
For example, OneSource, a UK-based debt resolution agency, improved message read rates from 59% with SMS to 92% with RBM. Plus, customer payment rates increased by 30% thanks to improved engagement with proactive payment reminders and the ease of settling outstanding debts in-channel.
We also worked with some of our clients to understand how their customers felt about receiving business messages over RCS—and the results speak for themselves:
Learn how to effectively use RCS messaging to drive customer engagement with these quick guides:
How will Apple’s RCS iOS 18 release change cross-platform messaging?
Apple’s support for RCS with iOS 18 marks a significant step toward it becoming the leading digital standard for personal and business messaging. It also resolves the common issues that prevented its use from being considered the competitive necessity it now is.
Before now, conversations between Android and Apple users when using the device’s default texting app were limited by legacy protocols and often frustrating as a result.
That’s because iPhone uses the proprietary iMessage format, which is comparable to RCS in features—but only when engaging with other iMessage users. This meant that iPhone and Android contacts could only converse using SMS and MMS standards, leading to:
Insecure conversations with no end-to-end encryption.
Limited and low-resolution multimedia sharing.
Inability to leave group chats when added by iOS users.
Inconsistent support for Wi-Fi and cellular networks.
The infamous green messaging bubble on iPhone.
As silly as it sounds, the green messaging bubble used to indicate an Android contact on iPhone drives some Apple loyalists to stigmatize or even ignore texts from Android users altogether—which might even include brands that use Android platforms for business messaging.
With iOS 18, the Android-to-iPhone messaging bubble will remain green but will now include all the features previously exclusive to iPhone-to-iPhone messaging. This will hopefully end the exclusionary behavior that was even cited in the US government’s antitrust suit against Apple.
Take your first step to RCS with Branded Text
If you like the sound of verified branding but aren’t ready to fully embrace RCS, then Branded Text may be right for you.
It’s the easiest way to add official branding to your SMS business messages, including your name and logo. Plus, a verified sender checkmark helps customers trust that the message is genuine—a must for mitigating smishing and other fraudulent activities. It only requires an SMS API, no change to your current SMS campaigns, so its even easier to 'switch on' if we already manage your SMS traffic.
Branded Text may not include the full suite of RCS capabilities, but it offers a meaningful upgrade on legacy SMS protocols. You can learn all about it here.
Join the RCS revolution with Webex Connect
When you integrate RCS with an enterprise-grade CPaaS solution like Webex Connect, you can more easily orchestrate and automate compelling customer interactions.
Its diverse library of pre-built system integrations and customizable APIs make connecting RCS—and other digital channels—to your back-office systems easy. This enables the seamless exchange of data necessary to personalize messaging, trigger contextual texts and actions, and enable automated chatbots for customer self-service.
An intuitive visual flow builder uses drag-and-drop components so even your non-technical users can access the tools they need to:
Send personalized offers in response to pre-defined actions and behavior—such as viewing a product page—that customers can redeem in-channel.
Automate timely notifications—like delivery updates, appointment reminders, and weather alerts—that customers can respond to using natural language.
Enable 24/7 self-service using AI-powered chatbots to field routine inquiries and access live services, like loyalty programs, all within the RCS chat window.
Embed cross-app functionality so customers can browse and purchase goods, book appointments, and manage multiple services in one channel.
Analyze campaign performance to help optimize sales, service, and marketing strategies using historical and real-time engagement insights.
And because the Webex Connect platform is delivered in the cloud, you can rest assured knowing you’re always working with the latest and safest version.
To learn more about Webex Connect and introducing RCS and RBM to your business messaging strategy, speak to one of our industry experts.
*Dependent upon your region and carrier, RCS business messaging may not yet be available
