What is RCS messaging and how to use it in conversational messaging?

Welcome to the era of Rich Communication Services (RCS). First released in 2008, RCS has since redefined how more than a billion Android users stay connected.

And now, after years of campaigning by industry regulators and leading mobile brands like Google and Samsung, the successor to SMS is finally coming to iPhones where Apple now supports RCS as part of their iOS 18 release in September. This means iPhone and Android users can engage in seamless cross-platform multimedia messaging—no additional apps required. This update will make RCS messaging available to more than 1.5 billion new users, making it the ideal time to join the conversation by adding it to your brand’s omnichannel messaging strategy.

What is RCS messaging?

RCS is a communication protocol that upgrades the traditional SMS experience by enabling richer, more interactive messaging features. Similar to what users experience with popular messaging apps like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. However unlike these apps, RCS uses the mobile device’s native messaging app, so users needn’t download a third-party app or register their details to use RCS messaging.

What is RCS chat?

An RCS chat is a conversation that includes one or more RCS messages. You may have noticed when you open a conversation in your native messaging app, you will sometimes see 'RCS chat with X'. And where you type your message it says 'RCS message'. This means you are using RCS! RCS conversations enable you to send and receive rich media, see when someone is typing, and get read receipts. 

RCS features

To fully leverage RCS messaging to drive conversational messaging you need to know about the stand out RCS chat features.

Rich messaging capabilities: Within an RCS chat or group chat share high-resolution media, including gifs, image carousels, and dynamic media cards.

Live engagement indicators: See when a contact is typing in real-time and if and when they’ve read your messages with timed, on-screen read receipts.

Interactive actions: Enhance engagement within RCS messages using suggested replies and contextual buttons that trigger pre-defined outcomes.

Cross-app integrations: Add third-party app functionality to your customer conversations, such as digital wallets and map sharing.

How to turn on RCS

RCS eGuide

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RCS vs SMS

SMS remains one of the most effective ways to directly engage with customers at scale with timely updates and notifications. However RCS messaging offers a far more dynamic and engaging messaging experience, purpose-built for the data-driven smartphone era.

Let’s take a look at the key differences between RCS vs SMS to see how it can help you deliver more meaningful customer interactions, when and where it matters most.

SMS

RCS

So which channel should you go for, RCS or SMS? The answer is both! We like to think of RCS messaging as an extension of SMS, with the benefit of tackling some of the pitfalls in SMS.

How to master conversational messaging with RCS

Today's connected customers increasingly expects personalized, joined-up interactions with the brands they use, that both inform and add value. They also want more control over how they engage with brands, such as having the ability to self-serve where possible. 

By integrating RCS messaging with your backend systems, you can build unique customer profiles that help you to more easily personalize customer journeys, in turn driving higher brand loyalty and message engagement rates. For example, you could use RCS to: 

• Enhance promotional marketing: Share personalized offers that customers can redeem in-channel with a single button press. For instance, a restaurant might send free dessert vouches to consenting customers on their birthday, which can be saved for later by pressing “add to wallet.”

• Share interactive service updates: Let customers easily respond to contextual updates, such as requesting an order is sent to an alternative address in response to a dispatch alert, or confirming their plans to attend an appointment in response to an automated reminder.

• Integrate transactional experiences: Enable customers to browse, view, and purchase goods and services in-channel—such as in response to a personalized promotional offer—using image carousels, video cards, and their preferred payment methods.

For more support on how to leverage RCS and drive engagement check out these useful reads:

RCS marketing guide

RCS messaging examples

RCS chatbot best practices

Integrate automated chatbots with RCS to field basic queries and self-service requests, freeing contact center resources for more valuable tasks. Before any design or concept work is done, start with the basics to improve your RCS messaging experience:

1. Be clear about what the RCS chatbot does

It’s easy for users to assume that a chatbot can help them with any request they can think of, but that’s not the current, functional reality of most chatbots. Set user expectations upfront and let them know what this bot is designed to do (i.e. “Help finding tickets”, “Search store locations”, “Take our style quiz”, etc.). When users can easily understand what the bot does and how it can help them meet their goal, they’ll be more satisfied and likely to return.

2. Provide an optimal experience

As chatbots continue to become more commonplace, it’s paramount that brands build their chatbot conversations around strong design principles that satisfy consumer expectations and efficiently complete tasks. We know there’s nothing worse for a user than to find themselves in an endless loop with a poorly designed chatbot and no way out! Make sure all buttons and commands presented by the RCS chatbot are actionable. 

3. Always have a human fallback option

Be sure to have an option that connects the customer with a human for situations where the chatbot cannot resolve your customer’s query.  

Implementing a suggested action chip such as “Contact us” or “Call Customer Support” is an easy way to let the user know that they always have a way to get in touch with a human representative if needed. 

4. Provide suggestions to steer users

Suggested actions and replies are great new features that come built into RCS. Utilizing these actions and reply capabilities will help the user navigate the conversation by keeping the momentum and ensuring the conversation flows. 

5. Your RCS chatbot should reflect the brand

If your brand were a person, how would it speak? What kind of language would it use? Would it use emojis? Incorporating your brand voice into the conversation keeps the RCS chatbot consistent with your other marketing channels and strengthens user confidence that they are interacting with a trusted brand that they are familiar with.

How to get started with RCS messaging

Before you get started with RCS messaging, we recommend asking the following questions of your organization and its messaging strategy. These will help you assess any challenges and opportunities, and more clearly identify what you can achieve with RCS:

• How are your competitors using RCS, if at all, and what can that tell you about your existing approach’s strengths and weaknesses?

• What are the low-risk, high-reward use cases that could help you demonstrate the value of RCS?

• What would your organization ideally require from an RCS provider—and how might they need to support you as you scale your messaging strategy?

• Do you have all the data points to help inform next steps to see when and where each channel is most effective?

Whatever these questions reveal, we can help.

Webex Connect is an enterprise-grade Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) solution that lets you build and automate joined-up customer journeys across the latest digital channels (and that includes RCS chat). Its low-code visual journey builder and library of pre-built integrations mean even non-technical users can start building meaningful interactions right out of the box.

Together, we can help you get started on your RCS journey, and refine your strategy over time to ensure you’re always getting the most from your conversational messaging.

To learn more about RCS and Webex Connect, please get in touch.