Rich Communication Services In Partnership With Google

The way businesses and consumers communicate has changed!

As per the research by Google, 75% of consumers now prefer to engage with a brand over private messaging channels versus traditional channels. And it is no surprise that enterprises are even more keen to explore a new way of talking to consumers.

With this new integration of chatbots atop RCS Business Messaging, we’re bringing you closer to 10X richer conversations with your customers, right from their SMS inbox.

Apart from RCS, we are also a part of Google’s program for Business Messages which enables us to offer our client’s customers an upgraded messaging experience through chatbots atop Google Search and Maps.

 Read more about chatbots atop Google’s Business Messages here

Coming to the RCS Business Messages offering, right from customer service to promotional marketing, from notifications to transactions and loyalty, brands are unleashing the potential of RCS Business Messaging to connect with their customers in an interactive and personalized way, all from within their SMS box. RCS Business Messaging upgrades SMS with branding, rich media interactions, and analytics to make it a more conversational experience.

And the best part is about what businesses and enterprises will be able to do with RCS coupled with an AI-powered chatbot powered by Yellow Messenger!

I’m interested! What is RCS Messaging?

Rich Communication Services or RCS business messaging upgrades business SMS such as OTP, booking confirmation, notifications in our native messaging application with branding, rich media, interactivity, and analytics.

For example, an airline company can send a boarding pass embedded with an easy to navigate template, QR Code, Brand logo, images, and timesaving CTA’s like navigation Map.

Oh Cool! What are Google RCS’s Features?

Imagine your customer’s SMS inbox. But way more interactive!

Your brand’s chatbot in the consumer’s SMS inbox!

Traditional SMS does not support setting up automated messages via chatbot. But with RCS business messaging API, businesses can set up a chatbot in the text messaging application, taking SMS to a whole new level. This would help provide users with the information they require in real-time.

160 Character – No more!

SMS is constrained by 160 characters, but RCS is not. The limited 160 characters offered by SMS constrained businesses till now, leading to missing information or having to provide links for an external landing page to convey their complete message. But through RCS Business Messaging, brands can send out notifications and OTP messages in the most innovative way and make messaging content more robust.

Send rich media

Businesses can attach images, videos, GIFs, etc to enrich the text messaging experience with their customers. Businesses do not have to use other API based messaging platforms for the same purpose. SMS has an open rate of 93%, making it the obvious choice for sending out business messages.

Engaging templates

RCS Business Messaging offers interactive templates with buttons, multimedia messaging, suggested replies, and a lot more. Simplified messaging templates help build deep, lasting engagements with customers by:

• Generating Better Content
• Organize Content is easier for viewing

Time-saving tools

Timesaving tools like QR Code, URL Buttons, Map, Calendar, and Dialer can be added in the text message itself. This would mean account updates, boarding pass, etc can be sent over by a text message and the user can access and interact with businesses through their native messaging application.

Security

RCS business messages are data reliant, so all messages sent are client-to-server encrypted. Service providers have to verify business senders who wish to use RCS business for authentication and then give access for sending messages. Moreover, RCS messages received from companies will have the company’s name and logo in the sender’s info, rather than just a mobile phone number.

This would make sharing of confidential documents, account detail, and sending OTP more secure. Neat, isn’t it?

Better Insights and Analytics

While SMS has an excellent open rate, it fails in providing analytics other than delivery messages. RCS provides data including client-based DLRs and read receipts. RCS provides real-time insights to the brand’s messages so you can modify and improve your content depending on the consumer’s interactions.

Feature-packed! How can my brand leverage chatbots atop RCS Messaging?

RCS can be used for both P2P (Person to Person) and A2P (Application to Person) engagements. RCS enabled A2P communication is known as RCS business messaging and can be used to deliver branded-interactive content to users. Some recommended use-cases are:

1. Drive Sales: Retailers can expand their e-commerce market on text messaging platforms and drive sales through RCS
2. Send Notifications: Unlike other API based platforms, RCS does not require user opt-in and can be used for notifications like account updates, new updates, news, etc
3. Improve Footfall: Brands can run promotions, send out personalized coupons to users, and provide browsing with complete transaction options on the same text messaging platform by deploying a Chatbot on RCS Business API.
4. Offer Customer Support: Users can interact with agents for queries and setting up automated replies can help improve customer experience over the text messaging application.
5. OTP/Security Messaging: It gives messages such as Onetime pins and password reset flow in the same chat flow of RCS.

Which industries are using chatbots atop RCS Business Messaging?

This would make sharing of confidential documents, account detail, and sending OTP more secure. Neat, isn’t it?

Banking and Insurance: Account updates, OTPs, account transactions, Suspicious account, Insurance premium updates, and payment, recommend right insurance products, compare insurance premiums, password setting, and new loans, credit card updates, etc.

Education: Mobile learning, talk to the professor, application management, and manage course schedules

Travel and Hospitality: Browse hotels and tickets, booking, send boarding pass, etc

Telecom: Send Bills, complete payment, customer support, new connection/product, etc.

Read-Estate: Sales, schedule appointments, customer support, etc

Media and Entertainment: Send digital newspapers, movie updates, booking tickets, etc.

What is the availability of RCS?

RCS continues to gain global traction with 90 operators launching it in 60 countries. With different manufacturers and software providers coming forth in support of RCS and helping it get launched with telephone operators, the biggest so far is Google and Samsung. Google is rolling out the new features afforded by RCS as chat and it is a part of the existing Android Messages app – alongside SMS and MMS.

Conclusion

GSMA predicts with the current traction, RCS will take over SMS in the near future and have the potential to engage a significant number of users. With 1.4 billion Android devices capable of receiving RCS messaging, and Samsung alone shipping out approximately 300 million new devices each year, RCS can double the engagement with business and be seen soon becoming the preferred communication channel!