Rich Communication Service (RCS)

Rich Communication Service (RCS)

RCS - The Future of Texting

RCS or Rich Communication Services is the

next-gen messaging standard that allows
users to enjoy enhanced features such as
group chat, read receipts, high-quality
media sharing, and more. It’s even been
called SMS 2.0 as in the future, it will offer
similar universality.

RCS is a digital messaging channel primarily for

brand and consumer communications. It involves
rich media and superb end user engagement
within the messaging app – meaning no need to
download anything. We’re kicking off a series on
rich communication services starting with the
background and market outlook of this channel.
Industry Wise Benefits
Growing Brand with Efficient Business Messaging
RCS using Telecom Operator
RCS using Andriod
RCS for iPhone
History of RCS

RCS isn’t that new of a concept. It was actually started back in 2007 when operators decided
they needed to compete with OTT channels. OTT stands for “over the top” because they are
channels that are in addition to – or “on top” of – basic messaging channels. This new channel
was meant to keep carrier-based messaging relevant in the age of OTT apps.

In 2008, GSMA, an association of mobile operators worldwide, took over the development of
RCS. With such a large group of operators, there were many initiatives in the following years.
They tried launching in one market but never made it to worldwide coverage.

Then, in 2015 Google decided to compete with Apple iMessage, so it moved into the operator
space and teamed up with the GSMA. Google acquired Jibe Mobile, a leading RCS services
provider, to help bring RCS to Android OS. This led to the GMSA publishing the first globally
agreed upon standard for RCS and its specifications called Universal Profile in 2016.

After 2016, Google offered the solution for free in P2P cases – so people could reach friends
across the world. This requires an agreement between the operators in each country and
Google. If an agreement is not there, then RCS is not available. For A2P instances, RCS
Business Messaging (RBM) was created.

To ameliorate this problem Google announced in 2019 that RCS would be launched in the
Google Messages app and hosted by Google instead of the user’s carrier. RBM support would
still require an agreement between end users’ operators and Google.

Finally, in 2020, Samsung decided to support Google chat (RCS) on their devices, which had
previously only supported operator driven RCS.
Market Outlook for RCS
As of 2019, 66% of consumers want rich communication services. According to a MobileSquared
study, consumer research showed that after email and phone calls, business messaging (SMS and
RCS) was the most preferred channel for brand and customer communication in 2020.

Business messaging for RCS is forecasted to explode. MobileSquared predicts the channel will
become a 1 billion user platform by the end of 2021 and by 2028, 3.7 billion of the 4.89 billion
Android devices globally will be RCS users. This means brands will be able to reach 61% of all
smartphone users via RCS – more than double what Google or Facebook can reach today.*
Penetration depends on several factors, including how many enabled users there are and the
number of enabled operators in countries that offer rich communication services.

Furthermore, it’s predicted that “brands will spend $52.5 billion on RCS by 2028, equaling
approximately 16% of total digital ad spend today” – and for good reason.* It’s already proven to be
a huge success. Campaigns for McDonald’s and Disney in South Africa generated an average ROI
of about 207% and an average read rate of approximately 72.4%.
What about iPhone users?

RCS is currently for Android users, with Apple’s equivalent being iMessage. Apple has also
developed Apple Business Chat (ABC) for iPhones (and iPads), which is comparable to
RCS Business Messaging. It has features like in-app payments for purchases, calendar
synchronization for scheduling, and automated responses for quick questions. Similar to
WhatsApp, customers start the conversation. It is possible Apple will do something with
RCS through ABC or another type of interaction, though it might depend on the market.

Now that we’ve piqued your interest in this channel, check back later for our next post on on
this channel. In the second part of the series, you’ll learn more about the benefits of RCS –
and some challenges.
RCS GSMA Architecture
The PS/CS gateway (GW) is used for interworking
between Circuit Switched (CS) and Packet
Switched (PS) voice, for example, Voice over Long
Term Evolution (VoLTE). MSG
Store relates to the CPM (Converged IP
Messaging) Message Store Server. Legacy Msg
refers to the Short Message Service
(SMS)/Multimedia Message Service (MMS)
services that may be utilized via an IWF
(Interworking Function) located in the group of
Application Servers (ASs) which in addition to
these IWF node(s) may also include various other
nodes used by the RCS services, for example:
 Presence Server
 Messaging Server
 ASs for the support of Chatbot Functionality