In this article you will see the steps to take to connect RCS to your Hub Account.
About RCS (Rich Channel Communications)
RCS is an upgrade to SMS that enables you to send messages using your brand as the sender ID instead of a generic phone number, create rich media messages (coming soon!), and read receipts. It enhances customer engagement by offering a more interactive and engaging messaging experience compared to traditional SMS.
Learn more What is RCS and why should I use it? RCS as part as enriching your contacts experience and trust requires you to be registered with different entities. The Sinch MessageMedia platform offer you the possibility to enroll your brand on your own. The picture below gives you an overview of the steps in the registration flow. This article has for purpose to guide you through these steps.
Information needed for the registration flow
Here is the information needed:
- In order to test RCS, see What information do I need to register RCS ? - Information needed to test RCS
- In order to fulfill the RCS registration, see What information do I need to register RCS ? - Information needed to register RCS
Create my RCS agent
1. Go to Settings then select Numbers and click on Create RCS agent under the RCS agents section. Learn more about What is a RCS agent.
You will land on the Create RCS agent page
2. Add your phone number which will be added as a tester.
Ensure each phone number is RCS compatible and each tester needs to accept the tester request sent to their phone. Learn more about RCS test numbers & devices.
3. 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. |
4. 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?
5. Click on Continue to proceed and click Confirm on the modal
Note - Country and use case information are not editable. Make sure that the information entered is correct. |
6. After a loading time up to 1 minute we will ask you to confirm your number tester status. Grab your mobile phone and lookout for a message sent from RBM Tester Management inviting you to become a tester of your RCS agent.
Click on Make me a tester.
Finally on the hub click on Confirm.
If you didn't received the invitation from Google, clicked on Confirm on the hub before the accepting Google's invitation or stumble upon an error message please refer to the FAQ article: RCS test numbers & devices.
7. Your test number has been verified, click on Continue.
Congratulations you just created your RCS agent. It is in a Testing state which will allow you to edit information, send and receive message from the hub to tester devices. Learn more about Testing your Agent in the next section.
Testing your agent
After creating your RCS agent it's time to test it.
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. Click Send test message to send a test message to the first tester of your account.
2. Grab your mobile phone to see and interact with your RCS test message received.
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 RCS agent overview page by going to Settings then select Numbers and click on View RCS agent under the RCS agents section.
As you may have noticed when receiving a RCS message (see Testing your agent) you were able to see information displayed on your mobile phone. You can notice that these information are also reflected on the hub on the right of the screen.
In order to modify these information click Edit and fill out the form. The phone on the right of the screen is updating data in real time and giving you a glimpse of how contacts will see your brand.
Click Save to save your modifications and send yourself a test message to get a feeling of how your brand will look from your contacts point of view.
If you want to know more about the different fields you can read more here: What information do I need to register RCS ? - Information needed to register RCS.
Note - Android Mobile devices might not update the data instantly. In order to force the refresh pls follow these steps: 1. Open your device settings 2. Select Apps 3. Choose Google Messages 4. Tap Storage 5. Select Clear data After clearing the data, log back in by tapping ‘Continue as…’. Once RCS reactivates, send a message to see the changes reflected. |
Tell us about your experience
In order to get verified by Google and the Telecom 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.
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 experience
2. Answer the questions about message triggers and user consent
For reference here are 2 articles: What are message triggers and interactions in RCS? and Do I need new consent from my contacts to send RCS messages?
Showcase your experience
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
2. Compose your test message in the Sample message field
3. Select the test number you wish to send the message to
4. 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.
example screen recording.MP4 -> How can we host it in the platform ?
Note - How can I record my mobile phone screen ? To record a video:
To take a screenshot:
Some steps work only on Android 11 and up.
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Fill out the 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 the RCS agent overview page by going to Settings then select Numbers and click on View RCS agent under the RCS agents section.
2. Navigate to the Country requirement tab.
3. Answer the questions and 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 follow these steps:
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. Click on Submit RCS agent on the bottom right of your screen. A modal pop ups and asks you to agree to the terms & conditions of RCS (Sinch MessageMedia Terms or Sinch Engage Terms - Sinch)
Note - You will not be able to edit the information after you have submitted. Please make sure you have reviewed all the required information. |
2. Agree to the terms and conditions and click on Submit RCS agent.
3. You agent will transition to the Waiting for approval status.
Each operator we submitted you agent to will review it in order to approve it. This process can take up to 10 business days.
In order 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 one of them.
Once you 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.
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