RCS

Rich communication services (RCS) is a protocol for new-generation smartphone messaging, an advanced version of SMS that facilitates rich multimedia capabilities and other advanced features like group messaging, video chat, etc.

In general, RCS is a messaging protocol between mobile-telephone carriers and between phones offering rich multimedia along with other advanced capabilities that enable users to experience an unlimited intuitive messaging experience.

After GSMA published its universal profile for RCS, Google's Jibe Cloud platform implemented the RCS Universal Profile, designed to help carriers launch RCS quickly and scale easily which opened ways for many messaging platforms to adapt the RCS ecosystem.

Today’s popular social media messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger use RCS communication protocol which offers an interactive user experience apart from the mobile operating system by facilitating multimedia sharing and also lets us know if the recipient reads the message, video calls, etc.

Lemnisk offers a scalable and hassle-free deployment solution to upgrade your customer engagement with RCS with interactive multimedia capabilities. Enabling RCS for business communication prevents the customers from falling into irrelevant actions in the loop of redirected web links and guides them in a streamlined path to the desired business actions like a form submission or making a purchase.

RCS in India

Due to the spam reports, Google imposed several restrictions for RCS in India and later partnered with Vodafone to implement controlled RCS in this region to avoid spam. Unlike RCS in the rest of the world, RCS usage in India will be followed in the same controlled system as for SMS where you predefine the template for DLT approval before executing the communication. When using RCS, you must direct traffic through a single gateway carrier (Vodafone India).

The following restrictions are also in place for the use of RCS in India:

Promotional traffic is limited to 4 per month
Mass Marketing must use a registered template rather than a free-form message
Message limits: Each Brand can send a maximum of 4 marketing communications per brand per user per month.
- Additionally, the brand can respond back to P2A messages from users.
- Each time a user responds, brand is allowed to send 2 additional A2P messages.

Key Features

Better security: RCS provides a fully verified sender ID that allows mobile subscribers to know who is contacting them. This also enables businesses to build trust with their consumers while contacting them.
Higher text limits: RCS allows sending 250,000 characters at once unlike the SMS which is limited to 160 characters.
High-resolution images and videos: RCS supports exchanging high-resolution images, videos, and other dynamic features in a standard messaging App.
Larger files: You can send media files up to 10MB in size.
Cross-app connectivity: RCS allows you to send messages that open in browsers, maps, and other applications.
Group chats: With RCS you can connect securely in group messages with friends, family, and team members in a standard messaging App without the need for any external chat applications.

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Last updated 7 months ago

RCS in India

The following restrictions are also in place for the use of RCS in India:

Promotional traffic is limited to 4 per month

Mass Marketing must use a registered template rather than a free-form message

Message limits: Each Brand can send a maximum of 4 marketing communications per brand per user per month.

Additionally, the brand can respond back to P2A messages from users.
Each time a user responds, brand is allowed to send 2 additional A2P messages.

Key Features

Better security: RCS provides a fully verified sender ID that allows mobile subscribers to know who is contacting them. This also enables businesses to build trust with their consumers while contacting them.

Higher text limits: RCS allows sending 250,000 characters at once unlike the SMS which is limited to 160 characters.

High-resolution images and videos: RCS supports exchanging high-resolution images, videos, and other dynamic features in a standard messaging App.

Larger files: You can send media files up to 10MB in size.

Cross-app connectivity: RCS allows you to send messages that open in browsers, maps, and other applications.

Group chats: With RCS you can connect securely in group messages with friends, family, and team members in a standard messaging App without the need for any external chat applications.