RCS Business Messaging Guide

What is RCS?

RCS (Rich Communication Services) is the next generation of SMS. It uses your existing SMS phone numbers but adds rich features like branded sender identity, read receipts, typing indicators, rich cards with images and buttons, carousels, and suggested quick-reply chips. Messages are sent via RCS first and automatically fall back to SMS if the recipient's device or carrier doesn't support RCS.

How to Set Up RCS

To use RCS, you need SMS enabled on your plan (Pro or Enterprise). Go to Channels > RCS in the admin dashboard. There are four tabs:

1. Business Profile — Set your brand name, logo, accent color, description, and website. Google requires verification of your business identity before RCS messages can be sent. Submit your profile and wait 3-5 business days for Google verification.

2. Phone Numbers — Enable RCS on your existing SMS phone numbers. Each number shows whether it is RCS-capable. Toggle RCS on or off per number. Numbers that aren't RCS-capable can still send standard SMS.

3. Delivery Reports — View RCS delivery statistics including delivered count, read count, fallback-to-SMS count, and failed count. See your delivery rate and read rate percentages. RCS messages also count toward your SMS monthly quota.

4. Settings — Configure SMS fallback behavior. When enabled (recommended), messages that can't be delivered via RCS automatically re-send as standard SMS.

RCS vs SMS Feature Comparison

RCS includes everything SMS does, plus: branded sender with your logo and company name, read receipts so you know when messages are seen, typing indicators, rich cards with images and action buttons, horizontally scrollable carousels of up to 10 cards, suggested reply chips for quick responses, media sharing up to 100MB, and an 8,000 character limit instead of SMS's 160 per segment.

RCS Rich Message Types

Rich Cards contain an image, title, description, and up to 4 action buttons. Buttons can open a URL, dial a phone number, open a map location, or send a quick reply. Great for product previews, order confirmations, and appointment details.

Carousels are horizontally scrollable sets of 2-10 rich cards. Each card has its own image and buttons. Perfect for product catalogs, service menus, or FAQ lists.

Suggested Replies are quick-action chips displayed below the message (up to 11). The recipient taps one to reply instantly. Supports text replies, URL opens, and phone dials.

Using RCS in Workflows

Add a Send RCS node to any workflow. Choose your message type (text, rich card, carousel, or suggested replies), set up the content, and configure SMS fallback. The node supports the same variables as Send SMS: {{firstName}}, {{orderNumber}}, {{otp}}, etc.

Device and Carrier Support

RCS is supported on Android (Google Messages) across all major carriers, and on iPhone starting with iOS 18 Messages app. Major US carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon) and over 700 carriers in 60+ countries support RCS. Older iPhones, feature phones, and unsupported carriers automatically receive SMS instead.

Billing and Quotas

RCS messages count toward your SMS monthly quota — there is no separate RCS charge. The per-message cost through Twilio is similar to SMS in most regions. Some international carriers may apply a small premium for RCS delivery. Your RCS usage and remaining quota are visible on the Delivery Reports tab.