RCS Messaging FAQ

RCS (Rich Communication Services) is the next-generation standard for mobile messaging. It replaces traditional SMS with a feature-rich protocol that supports images, videos, audio, interactive buttons, carousels, read receipts, verified sender branding, and more — all within the native messaging app on Android phones.

Think of RCS as the evolution of SMS: same universal reach, but with the interactivity and richness of apps like WhatsApp or iMessage — without requiring a separate app download.

Read our full guide: What is RCS Messaging?

SMS is limited to 160 characters of plain text and lacks delivery confirmation, read receipts, or interactive elements. RCS removes all these limitations:

• Rich media: Send images, videos, GIFs, documents, and audio files
• Interactive buttons: Call-to-action buttons within the message
• Carousels: Swipeable product cards with images and CTAs
• Verified sender: Branded profile with logo and business info
• Read receipts: Know when your message was read
• Higher engagement: 8x higher CTR than SMS

See the full RCS vs SMS comparison

RCS currently works on Android devices that have Google Messages installed, which is the default messaging app on the vast majority of Android devices worldwide. As of 2024, over 1 billion active Android devices support RCS globally.

iOS support arrived with iOS 18 in September 2024, though Apple's RCS implementation currently supports basic RCS features rather than the full RCS Business Messaging profile.

For non-RCS devices (older phones, feature phones), our platform automatically falls back to SMS, ensuring 100% delivery coverage.

RCS Business Messaging (RBM) is the commercial application of RCS for brands and businesses. It lets companies send verified, branded messages from a business profile — not a random phone number — with a logo, description, website, and contact info visible in every message.

Customers can instantly verify the sender's identity through Google's verification system, making RBM significantly more trustworthy than traditional SMS (which is easily spoofed). Our platform is a Google-certified RBM partner, so your brand profile goes through official Google verification.

RCS messaging delivers exceptional results across many industries:

• E-commerce: Order confirmations with tracking maps, product carousels, promotional campaigns
• Banking & Finance: Transaction alerts, OTPs, loan offers with interactive CTAs
• Healthcare: Appointment reminders with confirm/reschedule buttons, lab results
• Education: Fee reminders, exam schedules, admission updates
• Real Estate: Property listings with photo carousels, appointment scheduling
• Travel & Hospitality: Booking confirmations, check-in reminders, upgrade offers
• Retail & FMCG: Sale announcements, loyalty rewards, store locator CTAs

Explore our industry-specific solutions

Our RCS API is a RESTful API that uses standard JSON payloads and Bearer token authentication. Integration typically takes:

• Basic integration (sending messages): 1–2 hours
• Full integration (webhooks, analytics, fallback): 1–2 days
• Enterprise integration (CRM, custom flows): 1–2 weeks

We provide comprehensive documentation, SDKs for major languages (Node.js, Python, PHP, Java, Ruby, .NET), Postman collections, and a sandbox environment for testing.

View API documentation

Our REST API works with any language that can make HTTP requests. We provide official SDKs for:

• Node.js / JavaScript (npm package)
• Python (pip package)
• PHP (Composer package)
• Java (Maven)
• Ruby (RubyGems)
• .NET / C# (NuGet)

Community-maintained SDKs are also available for Go, Kotlin, and Swift. All SDKs are open source and available on our GitHub organization.

Yes! All accounts — including the free demo — include a full sandbox environment. The sandbox:

• Simulates real RCS behavior (delivery, read receipts, fallback)
• Lets you test webhooks and inbound message handling
• Includes test phone numbers that simulate various device types
• Provides full API access without cost per message
• Includes a visual message preview tool

Sandbox messages are completely free and unlimited — perfect for development and QA testing.

Yes. We offer native integrations with:

• Salesforce CRM
• HubSpot Marketing Hub
• Zoho CRM & Zoho Campaigns
• Freshworks CRM
• Shopify (for e-commerce)
• WooCommerce
• Zapier (connects to 3,000+ apps)
• Make / Integromat

Enterprise clients can request custom integration services for proprietary or legacy systems.

Yes, two-way messaging is available on our Enterprise plan. This allows you to:

• Receive inbound replies from customers
• Build interactive chatbot flows using our visual bot builder
• Route incoming messages to your support team or CRM
• Create conversational campaigns (surveys, quizzes, support flows)

Two-way messaging requires a verified RCS Business Agent profile and is subject to TRAI/carrier regulations on inbound messaging.

We offer flat monthly plans that include a fixed number of messages per month. There are no per-message charges within your quota — you get the full message count for a predictable monthly fee.

Available plans:

• Starter: $99/mo — 50,000 messages, basic features
• Professional: $299/mo — 200,000 messages, all features
• Enterprise: Custom pricing — unlimited messages, dedicated infrastructure

Annual plans save 20%. View full pricing details.

If you exceed your monthly quota, additional messages are charged at overage rates starting from $1.50 per 1,000 messages (varies by volume). We send alerts when you reach 80% and 100% of your monthly limit. You can also set a hard cap to prevent any overage charges — in this case, campaigns will pause when your limit is reached.

Monthly plans can be cancelled at any time — you'll continue to have access until the end of your current billing period, with no refunds for partial months. Upgrades take effect immediately; downgrades take effect at the next billing cycle. Annual plans are non-refundable but can be upgraded mid-year.

Yes! We offer a 30% discount for verified non-profit organizations, NGOs, charities, and accredited educational institutions. To apply, contact our sales team with documentation confirming your organization's status (registration certificate, charity number, etc.).

Our platform achieves a 99.2% RCS delivery rate on RCS-enabled devices. Our automatic SMS fallback system ensures messages reach non-RCS devices via traditional SMS, resulting in an overall delivery rate exceeding 99.9%. We maintain real-time delivery monitoring with dashboards showing per-campaign delivery, read, and click metrics.

SMS fallback is an automatic mechanism that detects when a recipient's device doesn't support RCS (older phone, no internet connection, carrier not supporting RCS) and sends a standard SMS instead. The fallback happens transparently within seconds. You can configure fallback messages to include a shortened URL that links to a rich landing page, preserving some of the RCS experience even on SMS.

RCS messages are typically delivered within 1–5 seconds for online recipients. For recipients who are offline, messages are queued and delivered as soon as they reconnect. For bulk campaigns, our infrastructure can send up to 1 million messages per hour. Enterprise clients with dedicated infrastructure can achieve even higher throughput. Delivery speed is monitored in real-time from your analytics dashboard.

Our analytics suite provides:

• Delivery reports: Sent, delivered, failed counts per campaign
• Engagement metrics: Read rate, button click rate, carousel interaction rate
• Conversion tracking: Link clicks, form submissions (Professional+)
• A/B test results: Compare variants on open rate, CTR (Professional+)
• Time-based reporting: Best send times based on your audience
• Export: CSV/Excel export of all metrics

Yes, our platform is fully GDPR compliant. We act as a data processor on your behalf and provide:

• A signed Data Processing Agreement (DPA)
• Consent management tools for opt-in/opt-out tracking
• Automatic opt-out processing and suppression list management
• Data subject access request tools
• Data deletion on request (within 30 days)
• EU data residency options for European clients

Yes, RCS Business Messaging in India falls under TRAI's regulations for commercial communication. Key requirements include:

• All senders must be registered with DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology)
• Message templates must be pre-approved
• Recipients must provide explicit opt-in consent
• DND (Do Not Disturb) registry must be respected

Our platform is fully DLT-integrated and handles TRAI compliance automatically. Our team can assist with DLT registration and template approval.

Our platform holds the following security certifications and standards:

• ISO 27001: Information Security Management System
• SOC 2 Type II: Security, Availability, and Confidentiality
• GDPR: EU General Data Protection Regulation
• PDPA: Thailand Personal Data Protection Act
• PDPB: India Personal Data Protection Bill compliance-ready

All data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256). We undergo annual third-party security audits.

Our platform automatically manages opt-outs through multiple mechanisms:

• Built-in opt-out button: You can include a "STOP" or "Unsubscribe" action button in your RCS messages
• Keyword detection: Inbound replies containing STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, or similar keywords are automatically processed
• Suppression list: Opted-out numbers are added to a persistent suppression list and never contacted again
• API management: Add numbers to the suppression list programmatically via API

Sending to opted-out numbers is blocked at the platform level — protecting your reputation and ensuring compliance.