RCS (Rich Communication Services) 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, and read receipts. It enhances customer engagement by offering a more interactive and engaging messaging experience compared to traditional SMS.
Key benefits of creating an RCS agent for your business
RCS has been shown to enhance brand trust and customer engagement. It allows your business to send interactive messages with images and videos, and carousels (coming soon). Furthermore, it offers superior analytics on message performance and read receipts.
Sinch has also developed a unique fallback experience that allows all customers, regardless of device or messaging app, to receive messages on another channel like SMS.
| Branding and verification | Branded messages with logo and verified sender badges. | Plain text from short codes or phone number. No clear brand identification. |
| Analytics and insights | Detailed analytics on delivery, open rates, and user engagement. | Limited analytics (delivery status and sometimes read receipts for MMS) |
| User experience | Seamlessly integrates into the native messaging app on Android and Apple devices (iOS 18) | Standard messaging app experience. Lacks modern features and interactivity. |
| Security | End-to-end encryption ensuring secure and private messages. | Generally unencrypted, making messages vulnerable to interception. |
| UTF-8 encoding and emojis | Use emojis and special characters without affecting character limits. | Emojis and special characters reduce the overall character limit. |
| Interactivity and suggested actions | Provide customers with predefined options like booking an appointment or initiating a purchase, simply by tapping a button. | End users would usually need to manually type a response to an SMS. |
What does an RCS conversation look like?
What's the difference between an SMS Sender ID and an RCS Agent?
An SMS Sender ID is a basic identifier (number or limited alphanumeric string) that appears on a user's handset, to show who the SMS message is from. Long numbers, short codes, 10DLC, and Alphanumeric senders are examples of these. SMS is primarily for plain text messaging and a Sender ID has varying levels of brand recognition and trust depending on the type and regional support.
An RCS Agent is a verified and branded identity that represents a brand in an RCS messaging experience between a business and consumer. To send RCS, a brand must go through a registration and approval process. Once approved, the brand will have this branded, verified business profile and can send messages to a user's native mobile messaging inbox, if they have an RCS-enabled device. This promotes more trusted customer communications and increased engagement. Unlike SMS, RCS is not directly connected to a long number or short code, but you need one to fallback to SMS if RCS is not available, and some carriers require fallback to SMS or MMS if an RCS message cannot be delivered.
How does RCS compare to SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and iMessage?
What’s the difference between RCS and SMS?
See our blog here for all the details.
What’s the difference between RCS and WhatsApp?
See our blog here for all the details.
What’s the difference between RCS and MMS?
See our blog here for all the details.
What’s the difference between RCS and iMessage?
See our blog here for all the details.
How do phone numbers function with RCS for Business?
RCS does not rely on phone numbers for sending messages, unlike SMS. Instead, it uses a verified RCS Agent.
However, you can display one or more contact phone numbers within your RCS Agent's contact profile. This branded identity, which is visible to consumers, can also include your business's description, website, privacy policy, and terms of service.
While RCS is not directly connected to a long number or short code, you need a number to fallback to SMS or MMS, if RCS is not available. Some carriers even require fallback to SMS or MMS if an RCS message cannot be delivered.