RCS agent setup

Learn how to connect Rich Communication Services (RCS) to your account. This guide covers setup, testing, approval, and launch so you can send branded, interactive messages that boost engagement.

Information needed for the registration flow

• In order to test RCS, see What information do I need to register RCS ? - Information needed to test RCS
• In order to fulfil the RCS registration, see What information do I need to register RCS ? - Information needed to register RCS

Create an RCS agent

1. Navigate to Settings > Numbers > Create RCS agent under the RCS agents section. 

   

   You will land on the Create RCS agent page:

   

2. Select a country - This is the country where you will be able to send RCS messages.

   Note - Only one agent per country is available for the moment, and the agent can only send within the country it is registered. 

3. Select a use case - To send RCS messages, you must specify how your business will use RCS messaging. This helps Google and Telecom operators understand the purpose of your messages and ensure they comply with guidelines. Learn more about What are the use cases for RCS messaging?
4. Click on Continue to proceed and click Confirm on the modal.

Congratulations you just created your RCS agent! It is in a testing state, which will allow you to edit information, send and receive messages from the platform to test devices. 

Testing your agent

After creating your RCS agent it's time to test it.  

1. Navigate to the RCS agent overview page by going to Settings > Numbers > View agent:

   

2. Click Send test message:

   

    

   Note: If you don't have an RCS testing number already registered. A modal will pop up to add one. Please refer to this article How can I add my number as a tester for my RCS Agent?

If you have several testers registered on your account and wish to send a message to a specific number:

1. Navigate to Test numbers

   

2. Click on the three dots (⋮) on the number you wish to receive a test message on: 

3. Click Send test message:

   

4. Grab your mobile phone to see and interact with your RCS test message received.

Congratulations you now know how to test your agent messaging features. Now let's see how we can customize your agent with your related company information. 

Personalize your agent

Navigate to the Agent overview page by going to Settings > Numbers > View RCS agent. 

When receiving an RCS message (see Testing your agent) your recipients will see some of the business information you added when creating your RCS agent. In order to modify this information click Edit and adjust the fields you wish to update. A live preview will be visible on the right of the screen to give you a glimpse of how the information is displayed to your recipients. 

Once you've made any adjustments, click Save and send yourself a test message.

Agent verification: 

Agent experience info

In order to be verified by Google and the telecommunications operators of the country you wish to send messages in, we need to collect information about the experience you want to provide to your contacts via RCS. 

1. Navigate to Settings > Numbers > View RCS agent > Agent experience:

   

2. Answer the questions about message triggers and user consent in the subsequent form.

Agent experience showcase

In order to be live on RCS you need to be verified by Google and the Telecom operators of the country you wish to send messages in. To get verified you will need to showcase the RCS experience you want to provide to your contacts. We provide you tools to let you emulate, record and submit your experience. 

Using the steps below we will ask you to record a video of your mobile phone screen:

• Receiving and opening the sample message
• Replying 'STOP' and how the agent confirms the opt-out

Follow these steps to send a custom message:

Navigate to the RCS agent overview page by going to Settings then select Numbers and click on View RCS agent under the RCS agents section.

1. Go to Agent preview and compose your test message in the Sample message field

2. Select the test number you wish to send the message to
3. Click on Send sample message

Here is an example of a recording for a Promotional Agent. It includes an example of the message that will be sent by the agent and an optout showcase. 

Country requirements

Some telecom operators require additional information. As the requirements are country specific we designed a specific page for you to input all the information.  

To proceed follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Settings > Numbers > View RCS agent under the RCS agents section.

2. Navigate to the Country requirements tab.

   

3. Answer the questions, these will be specific to your location, any changes will be auto-saved. 

Launch your agent

Upon completion of all the previous steps including creating your RCS agent, testing your agent, personalizing your agent, telling us about the experience you want to provide over RCS and finally recording your experience you will reach the Ready to submit status.

To proceed to the launch click Submit RCS agent on the bottom right of your screen and a modal will pop up asking you to agree to the RCS terms & conditions.

Once you agree to the terms and conditions and click on Submit RCS agent, your agent will transition to the Waiting for approval status. 

Each operator we submitted your agent to will review it in order to approve it. This process can take up to 10 business days. To check the different telecom operator status you can click on Operator status on the bottom right of the screen, to get an overview of the telecom operators and the status of your agent for each of them. 

Once your agent is approved by at least one telecom operator, it will transition to the Active status which will let you send a RCS campaign to your contacts! In order to reach a contact on RCS, the telecom operator needs to support RCS and your agent needs to be Active.