{"id":10812,"date":"2024-09-26T15:12:03","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T13:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.retarus.com\/blog\/en\/?p=10812"},"modified":"2024-10-14T11:53:29","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T09:53:29","slug":"rcs-has-come-a-long-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.retarus.com\/blog\/en\/rcs-has-come-a-long-way\/","title":{"rendered":"RCS has come a long way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

RCS stands for “Rich Communication Services”. This value-add addition to SMS\/MMS has a plethora of benefits to offer for enterprises and consumers alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RCS<\/a> has been in the making for quite some time. The IP-based standard was actually conceived back in 2007; the first specification was adopted by the mobile communications industry association GSMA<\/a> in 2008. Its overall aim was to bring the traffic and revenue streams that network operators were used to from SMS into the age of the mobile internet and to regain the influence against individual \u201cover-the-top\u201d (OTT) services like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Signal etc. In retrospect, this did not really work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the reasons for the initially slow adoption of RCS was the fact that Apple completely ignored it, relying on its proprietary iMessage instead, which only worked between Apple devices and used SMS as a fallback for Android users. After much persuasion (and pressure from the EU) Apple finally supports RCS with iOS 18<\/a>, which was released on September 16, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Android sponsor Google, on the other hand, has been an outspoken advocate of RCS for some time. In 2015, it acquired the RCS cloud service Jibe Mobile and developed the new RCS standard Universal Profile<\/a> together with the GSMA. This was adopted at the end of 2016 and since then has finally led to a greater spread of RCS among carriers and device manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RBM: Specifically for companies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With RCS Business Messaging, or RBM for short, there is also a version of RCS specifically for enterprise A2P communication. RBM offers special functions such as branding, verified senders, ready-made quick replies or rich cards, even in carousel display. These are provided via a MaaP server (Messaging-as-a-Platform) integrated into the carrier network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compared to SMS, RBM offers companies many advantages such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n