What Does RCS Mean for Businesses? 

In today’s fast-moving digital landscape, keeping your messaging strategy and technology aligned with the latest trends has never been so critical. Recently, Apple announced their intended support for Rich Communication Services (RCS) when they unveiled their release of iOS 18, uncovering a new opportunity in enterprise communication. The question is, what does RCS mean for businesses? Understanding the power of RCS is vital as businesses seek more engaging ways to communicate with their customers. 

What is RCS Messaging? 

Since its launch, RCS has revolutionized traditional SMS and MMS messaging channels. It presents a more interactive and lively messaging experience that shares many functional similarities with popular messaging apps like WhatsApp. This allows a business to utilize read receipts, typing indicators, group chats, high-resolution media, and interactive buttons within a native smartphone messaging app. 

RCS is positioned to become the new standard in messaging, combining the simplicity of SMS with enhanced functionality from today’s messaging apps. This combination opens a new world of possibilities for companies to connect with their customers in a much more engaging and personalized manner. 

The Influence of Apple’s Endorsement of RCS 

Apple has reimagined rich messaging with the announcement of RCS support in iOS 18. As Apple joins the RCS revolution, businesses will be able to reach an entire user base that was previously unreachable and send more engaging and interactive messages to iPhone users. 

Businesses that become early adopters of RCS messaging can leverage this trend by positioning themselves as pioneers and fine-tuning their communication strategies to improve their business outcomes. 

Benefits of RCS for Businesses 

Enhanced Customer Engagement 

RCS messaging enables businesses to add richer and more engaging messages when reaching out to customers. For example, high-resolution images, videos, GIFs, and even interactive buttons can create engaging messages that drive a specific action. 

Enhanced Customer Experience 

With RCS, businesses can offer an interactive, frictionless experience from within the messaging app itself. Customers can browse a product, execute purchases, or interact with customer support without ever having to leave their messaging app. This can help drive customer satisfaction and loyalty by providing a convenient and efficient way to interact with customers.  

Improved Conversion Rates 

By comparison, RCS messaging is much more interactive and engaging than traditional SMS. For instance, brands can showcase products or services using rich media, employ interactive buttons that enable quick responses, and even forward personalized offers based on customer behavior. According to research, richer communication channels can drive an increase of up to 40% in conversion rates.ⁱ 

Advanced Analytics 

RCS provides detailed insights into message performance. Businesses can track message delivery, read rates, and customer interactions, enabling data-driven decision-making and optimizing communication strategies over time. These analytics can help enterprises understand what works best for their audience and tailor their messaging approach. 

Use Cases of RCS Business Messaging 

Customer Support and Service 

With RCS, customer support could be revolutionized by creating a more active and dynamic line of support than was previously possible. Companies could utilize RCS to create automated chatbots that tackle common customer questions, problem-solve, and enrich support guidance while being integrated into the messaging app. Other aspects of RCS, such as rich media, including video tutorials and product images, could drastically smooth customer issues, hence reducing support costs while improving the general customer experience. 

Marketing Campaigns 

RCS offers the expansive reach of SMS with the dynamic and interactive features of rich messaging apps. Companies can send personalized messages, promotional offers, and product updates in visually appealing forms using RCS. For instance, an e-tailer can send a product catalog via RCS message, attach videos of new arrivals within them, and offer clickable buttons to enable a customer to buy directly from the message. This makes campaigns more engaging and provides a better conversion rate than traditional SMS.¹ 

Appointment Reminders and Confirmation 

RCS provides a far more engaging way to manage appointments for healthcare, real estate, or professional services businesses. Companies can send RCS messages containing embedded calendar links, maps, and interactive buttons to confirm or reschedule an appointment. This innovative method minimizes no-shows and late arrivals and heightens customer convenience in managing appointments. 

Two-Way Communication for Surveys and Feedback 

RCS allows for bidirectional messaging, useful for collecting customer feedback and conducting surveys. It enables enterprises to send interactive surveys directly into customers’ messaging application for quick and easy responses. This method enables more actionable insights into customer preferences and satisfaction levels. 

Transactional Messages 

RCS can potentially elevate transactional messaging by infusing it with greater context and clarity. Banks can, for example, send secure, rich messages embedded with clickable buttons to drive instant action. Meanwhile, retailers can send order confirmations, shipping updates, and delivery tracking links in an interactive, engaging way. 

Challenges and Considerations for RCS Adoption 

With great opportunities come some challenges, and RCS is no exception. These include network compatibility issues, security concerns, and varying levels of carrier and user adoption. However, businesses can work their way around such challenges by collaborating with an experienced messaging platform, such as the one provided by Syniverse, which offer solutions aimed at making the most out of reach, security, and engagement. 

Syniverse’s Role in RCS Business Messaging 

At Syniverse, we are leading the charge in the RCS revolution. Backed with years of experience in mobile communications, our RCS solutions help businesses navigate the complexities lying behind this new messaging standard. From developing a strategy to execution and support, we empower the enterprise to unleash the full force of RCS. 

Our platform has all the features to make it an ideal choice for enterprises looking to elevate their messaging strategy with frictionless integration, best-in-industry security features, and unparalleled reach. Take a look at how we can help your business stay ahead of the messaging curve with our Enterprise Rich Communication Services and our RCS Business Messaging: Benefits & Use Cases. 

RCS is a key evolution in business messaging. It gives enterprises all the ways to communicate with a customer more holistically, create better experiences, and drive more conversions. With Apple on board, this new era of communication is fast approaching. It’s time for businesses to understand and quickly adopt this technology. 

Learn about Syniverse’s RCS solutions now and discover how we can help drive your business forward with the next wave in messaging. 

ⁱ Source: Tseng & Wei (2020) 
¹Source: Tseng & Wei (2020)