ChatGPT
Claude
Perplexity
Grok
Introduction
How would you feel when a simple SMS from your brand was able to catch customer attention and customer interacts with those messages like they would with an app? That too, with the default Messages app! It feels amazing, right? With the RCS business messaging (RBM), it will now be possible. In this article, we’ll see what RBM is, why it matters, and how RBM helps businesses to transform customer experience.
According to Forbes, a major RCS business messaging platform announced that it delivered over 10 billion RCS messages in 2024, which is five times more than in 2023.
What is RCS business messaging (RBM)?
Rich communication services business messaging is an application of RCS protocol. RBM allows businesses to send their customers rich and interactive messages. It is similar to SMS, which supports images, videos, buttons, etc. Brands can use RBM in different ways. It may include simple updates like a delivery alert of a courier. Or it may be helping the customer to place an order by themselves.
With the help of features like rich cards, images, quick-reply buttons, RBM makes smooth, interactive, and improved customer experience.
How does RCS business messaging work?
The RCS business messaging works similar to a normal conversation between people. On one side, it will be the RBM agent (business backend system) and the other will be the customer. However, the major difference is that only the agent can start the conversation. Let’s look into the steps of an RBM conversation:
- An agent sends the first message when an event triggers it. The triggering event may be a notification informing the customer that a package has been shipped, or it may be a daily offer or promotion details.
- When such a trigger occurs, the agent will send the message to the user. This is with the help of an RBM API. Then, it may lead to either of the two cases:
- If the user supports RCS, he/she will receive that message in their default Messages app.
- If the user doesn’t support RCS, the system will return an error. Then the agent should switch to another channel like SMS.
- After the customer successfully receives the messages, he may click a button or provide replies. Then the RBM service will forward that reply to a webhook.
- Then, the webhook sends the messages to the agent in JSON format (It is a machine-readable data format used by software systems. This helps systems to understand what the user clicks or types.)
- The agent will understand the message from the customer. Then, it will decide what to reply and send the next message to the user.
- The RBM conversation will continue till the goal is achieved or the user stops replying.
How RCS messaging enhances business communication?
With RCS, the basic SMS experience turns into a smart, app-like experience to the customers. It is very beneficial for brands as it results in engaging conversations, higher customer trust, and better communication results. Let’s look into the main features that helps businesses to communicate efficiently with their customers:
- No limit in character size: SMS only allows 160 characters maximum per message. So, brands usually need to break the messages or simplify them. On the other hand, RCS allows businesses to send long and detailed messages. It is very useful when sending product info, offers, or other updates.
- Sender verification & security: In the messages they receive, customers can see a brand’s logo, name, and trust badges. This makes the communication more official. It also avoids spam and fraud activities. This verification will ensure more security for businesses.
- Rich multimedia support: RCS allows businesses to send HD images, videos, GIFs, carousels, buttons, etc. This will make the default messaging more interactive and visually appealing similar to that of WhatsApp messages.
- Group chart support: With the group messaging feature of RBM, brands can create groups. This is useful for sending messages to internal teams and customer communities.
- Read receipts: RCS can show whether a customer read a message, along with the timestamp. This will help businesses to track engagement, measure campaign visibility, and understand customer responsiveness.
- Typing indication: With RCS, brands can see when the customer is typing. This helps to keep the conversations real-time. It will make a smooth, more human-like interaction between a customer and a business.
A real-life scenario
In this section, we’ll see an example that will clearly explain how the rich communication services business messaging works.
Online order tracking
- In an ecommerce platform, when a customer clicks “Track my order”, the agent receives a trigger from the ecommerce system.
- Then, the agent will send the first message to the customer like: “Hi, we received a request to track your order. Kindly share your order ID to continue.”
- The customer will then reply with the order ID.
- After receiving the response, the agent will process it. The agent will check the shipping status. Then, it will send an RCS message including the image of the product, delivery date, current tracking, and other buttons like “contact support.”
- The agent can also make the communication more effective by asking customers whether they need delivery alerts for this order.
- When the customer respond with an “yes,” the agent will enable the notifications.
- The conversation will end on a happy note like “Thank you. We’ll keep you updated. Thank you for shopping with us!”
Conclusion
As we see at the beginning of this article, RCS will be entirely dominating the business-customer communication in the coming years. It helps businesses to redefine the way in which they communicate with their customers. With its ability to send multimedia content, verified brand messages, suggested replies, and real-time updates, RBM helps businesses create more engaging, secure, and high-conversion customer interactions. As more devices and networks adopt RCS, enterprises that embrace RBM today will be better positioned to deliver modern, personalized, and memorable communication tomorrow.
References:
- Google Developers. “How RCS for Business Works.” Google for Developers, 31 Oct. 2025
- Doffman, Zak. “Google Reveals New RCS Update for Android—iMessage Users Need This Now.” Forbes, 30 Nov. 2024
- Route Mobile. “What Is RCS Chat? Everything You Need To Know in 2025.” Route Mobile, 2024
Prompts:
- What is RCS business messaging?
- How is it beneficial for businesses?
- How does RCS business messaging work?
- Explain an example for RCS business messaging