As we shared in our recent announcement, we’ve been working tirelessly to revolutionize how you send text messages. Soon, RCS will be at your fingertips, bringing a powerful upgrade for those already leveraging SMS as a communication channel.
In this post, we’ll dive into what RCS brings to the table, its key features, the types of content it supports, and how it builds on our ongoing commitment to providing cutting-edge communication tools.
What is RCS?
If you are not familiar with it, RCS is a modern messaging protocol designed to enhance customer engagement through dynamic, multimedia-rich communication. It combines the simplicity of SMS with advanced features commonly found in messaging apps, creating a unified channel that works natively on most Android devices (and hopefully, very soon, iOS too).
Why RCS Matters:
Enhanced Brand Experience: Deliver visually appealing, interactive messages that align with your brand identity.
Real-Time Engagement: Leverage read receipts and enhanced messaging performance metrics not possible in SMS.
Secure Conversations: Benefit from encryption and verified sender IDs for a trusted communication experience.
At Notificare, we're integrating directly with Google's RCS Business Messaging (RBM) to seamlessly enhance our SMS offering. Once you launch one or more agents (as the example above, a verified sender ID can have your brand's look and feel), you can continue using SMS or opt for RCS whenever supported. For phone numbers without RBM support, the system will smoothly fall back to a standard text message, ensuring uninterrupted communication.
Types of Content Supported by RCS
With RBM, businesses can still deliver plain old text messages:
But of course, you can also deliver rich media too:
And thanks to Rich Cards, visually striking single or multi-card layouts:
From images and audio to videos and PDFs, RBM lets you send a wide range of media files to create impactful customer interactions.
Interactive Elements
But that’s just the beginning of what RCS can offer. Its standout feature is Suggestions — interactive options that allow users to engage directly with your brand. With Notificare, you can turn these interactions into personalized follow-up messages, creating a seamless and engaging customer experience.
For each type of content mentioned above, you can include one or more Suggestions. These can take various forms. For example, using the Reply type, you can easily capture responses from your users:
You can also leverage the native capabilities of your user's device, such as prompting them to make a phone call:
Or display a certain location in the default navigation app:
Create a calendar entry with a single click:
Open any webpage using the default browser:
Or let them share a location with your brand:
All these interactions are stored as events in Notificare, allowing you to use features like Event-Based Campaigns to create follow-up interactions.
Additionally, users can always send a message too, and just like Two-Way SMS, we will save these messages as events that you can also transform into new interactions.
Are you Ready?
As consumer expectations for seamless, multimedia-rich interactions rise, RCS positions businesses to meet those demands. Whether it’s enhancing customer support, driving sales, or improving marketing campaigns, RCS ensures that every message counts.
With Notificare, you will soon be able to take RCS for a spin. Stay tuned, and as always, we are available for any question you might have via our Support Channel.