Next in Text: The Exciting Future of RCS

The future of messaging lies squarely with RCS and it’s going to change the way marketers communicate with customers—as well as how we all communicate with one another. RCS (Rich Communication Services) is the next generation of messaging that takes the familiar SMS experiences and supercharges them.

Since RCS is still very new to the market, there are a lot of questions around how it’s actually different from what we can do via messaging today. 

Imagine being able to send messages that include:

• High-resolution images and videos: Forget grainy photos and pixelated graphics. RCS lets you showcase your products and brand with stunning visuals that capture attention.

• Interactive carousels and cards: Instead of simple text links, you can create interactive experiences within your messages, allowing customers to browse products, select options, and even supply suggested responses in the chat.

• Verified sender identification: A blue checkmark next to your brand name assures customers they're interacting with the real you, building trust and minimizing the risk of phishing attempts.
  

The implications of RCS are significant, both for businesses and consumers. Here's why you should be excited:

• Enhanced Customer Engagement: With rich media, interactive elements, and personalized experiences, RCS messages stand out from plain text SMS, driving not just increased visibility but deeper customer interactions that can translate to increased loyalty and conversions.

• Improved Conversion Rates: By enabling direct interaction within messages, RCS removes friction from the customer journey. Customers can browse products, add items to their cart without ever leaving their messaging app.

• Broader Reach: With Apple joining the RCS ecosystem, it's poised to become a truly ubiquitous messaging channel, available across billions of devices worldwide. This gives businesses unparalleled reach, enabling them to connect with customers across geographic boundaries.

There’s a lot of questions around the new RCS frontier. We’ve outlined some of the biggest questions merchants have been asking about and gotten the confusion cleared up.

No! RCS is an upgrade to SMS that works through consumers' native messaging apps. Users do not need to download a separate app to send and receive RCS messages.

With the recent release of iOS 18.1, RCS is supported across most Apple devices. This makes RCS a truly universal messaging channel, available on both Android and iOS devices.

RCS offers verified sender identification, meaning brands are vetted by carriers. This increases consumer trust and helps to prevent spam and phishing attempts.

There are two types of RCS messages: Basic and Rich. Basic RCS messages are text-only and have a 160-character limit, similar to SMS. Rich RCS messages support multimedia content, interactive elements, and longer text.

RCS supports a wide range of use cases, including customer service, transactional messages, and even interactive experiences like product catalogs and calendar scheduling. For example, you can send a calendar reminder to your customers letting them know when it’s time to restock!

RCS has strong industry support from carriers and technology providers. With the addition of Apple's support, RCS has the potential to become the dominant messaging channel for both personal and business communications.

Since RCS is a relatively new channel and technically distinct from SMS and MMS, the compliance requirements for RCS remains in flux.  At this time, provided you have obtained prior express written consent to send SMS/MMS messages, you will be able to send an RCS message to that subscriber.

As a leader in SMS marketing, we are at the forefront of building for RCS. We recognize the immense potential of this technology, and we’re committed to bringing its benefits to all of our customers as soon as we are able. 

We’re currently conducting an RCS Beta for select customers and hope to expand to more merchants soon. Keep an eye out for additional product releases later this quarter and in Q1 2025 to bring more RCS functionality to your messaging strategy. 

RCS is not just an upgrade; it's a revolution in mobile messaging. It combines the best of SMS—reach, reliability, and immediacy—with the richness and interactivity of modern messaging apps. As Postscript leads the charge in bringing RCS to the forefront of marketing, businesses have an unprecedented opportunity to create more engaging, effective, and profitable customer experiences.