Brand and agent setup
Prepare the agent name, logo, brand colours, contact details, privacy information and the intended conversational use case.
RCS Business Messaging
RCS Business Messaging
Provider for India
Build verified, branded customer journeys with rich cards, carousels and suggested actions through RCS-capable messaging apps, with capability checks and SMS fallback planning.
What Is RCS Business Messaging?
RCS (Rich Communication Services) extends carrier messaging beyond plain SMS. RCS Business Messaging lets approved business agents use verified branding, media, rich cards, carousels, suggested replies and delivery events in supported messaging apps.
Messagify supports RCS alongside WhatsApp Business API and SMS. Reachability depends on the recipient's device, messaging app, RCS status and carrier support, so a production journey should check capabilities and define an SMS fallback rather than assume universal delivery.
Key Features
✅
Verified Sender
Your brand name, logo and verification badge shown directly in the message thread.
🃏
Rich Cards & Carousels
Images, product carousels and structured layouts, not just plain text.
👆
Suggested Actions
Tappable quick-reply and call-to-action buttons built into the message.
📲
Native Messaging Surface
Delivered through supported messaging apps on RCS-capable devices without requiring your own branded app.
Consent & Opt-In
RCS Business Messaging requires recipient consent before sending. Messagify follows a documented opt-in process — see our RCS Opt-In page for the exact consent form and flow we use to enrol users.
RCS Business Messaging Pricing in India
RCS is billed per delivered message. A long RCS message is billed once rather than split into segments as SMS is. Recipients who can't receive RCS get the SMS fallback, billed at the SMS rate. Final pricing depends on use case and volume.
See full pricing →RCS
Branded, verified messages on Android
₹0.13
from, per message
SMS
Transactional, DLT routed
₹0.12
from, per SMS
Which works out cheaper depends on message length and how much of your list can receive RCS. See the worked examples in RCS vs SMS cost in India.
RCS Agent Onboarding and Verification
An RCS Business Messaging sender is an agent representing a brand. It must be configured, tested, verified and launched before production traffic can reach customers on supported carriers.
Verification
An authorized brand representative confirms the agent information and the right to operate it. Approval and launch remain subject to Google and carrier requirements.
Test devices
Validate content, rich-card layouts, suggestions, event handling and conversation paths on designated RCS-enabled test devices before launch.
Carrier launch
Launch availability varies by market and carrier. Confirm the target audience and supported route rather than claiming universal device coverage.
RCS Business Messaging API, Webhooks and Delivery Flow
Trigger
A booking, shipment, account event or campaign workflow initiates a message through your connected application.
Capability check
Check whether the recipient can receive RCS and tailor the interaction to the features reported for that device.
Message and response
Exchange JSON requests and events through the RCS API and webhook flow, including replies and suggested-action events.
Receipts and fallback
Process delivery events and use a controlled fallback such as SMS when RCS is unavailable, avoiding duplicate delivery.
For the underlying concepts and compatibility limitations, read what RCS Business Messaging is and how it works.
Which Phones Can Receive RCS in India?
RCS reachability depends on the phone, its messaging app, the mobile network and whether your agent has been launched on that network. It can't be inferred from the operating system alone, so check each number before you send.
Android
Phones with a compatible messaging app, such as Android's default Messages app, with RCS turned on and a supporting carrier route.
iPhone
Apple supports RCS from iOS 18 on carriers that enable it for iPhone. Business messages still need the agent to be launched on that carrier.
Mobile networks
Messagify's RCS route reaches subscribers on Jio, Airtel and Vi (Vodafone Idea), once your agent is launched on each carrier and the recipient's phone has RCS turned on.
Capability check
Check whether each number can receive RCS before a campaign. The share of your list that passes decides both your reach and your cost.
RCS vs SMS for Business Messaging
| SMS | RCS Business Messaging | |
|---|---|---|
| Messagify starting rate | ₹0.12 per SMS | ₹0.13 per message |
| Billed unit | Per segment (160 GSM / 70 Unicode characters) | Per delivered message, or per 24-hour conversation for conversational agents |
| Reach | Practically every mobile phone | Only phones with RCS enabled, on a supporting carrier, where the agent is launched |
| Content | Text and a link | Images, rich cards, carousels, suggested replies and actions |
| Sender identity | Six-character DLT header with a -P/-S/-T/-G suffix | Verified brand name and logo after brand verification |
| Setup | DLT entity, header and template registration | Agent creation, brand verification and launch approval |
Most production journeys use both: RCS for reachable customers, with SMS fallback in the same workflow.
Choosing an RCS Service Provider in India
An RCS provider does more than relay messages. Before you choose one, ask how it handles each of these:
Agent verification and launch
Who prepares the agent's brand information, runs verification and manages launch approval with Google and the carriers.
Capability checks
Whether you can check RCS reachability per number before sending, so you can plan reach and budget.
SMS fallback with DLT
Whether fallback SMS runs on your registered DLT headers and templates in the same workflow, without sending duplicates.
Billing
What counts as a billable message, whether conversational and non-conversational agents are billed differently, and how fallback SMS is charged.
API and webhooks
Whether replies, suggested-action taps and delivery events come back to your systems through webhooks.
Chatbots and inbox
Whether automated flows and human handoff are available, or only one-way broadcasts.
Messagify supports agent onboarding, capability checks, SMS fallback and webhooks on Jio, Airtel and Vi, alongside WhatsApp and SMS, and the RCS chatbot builder adds no-code automated flows with human handoff.
RCS, SMS or WhatsApp?
Choose RCS
When verified branding, native rich media and guided actions matter and the audience can be confirmed as RCS reachable.
Choose SMS
When broad reach and concise text delivery matter more than rich interaction, or as the fallback for an RCS journey.
Choose WhatsApp
When customers already use WhatsApp and you need its template, service-conversation, inbox and automation ecosystem.
Use an orchestrated mix
Select channels using consent, reachability, urgency, cost and customer preference instead of treating one channel as a universal replacement.
RCS Business Messaging Use Cases
Commerce
Product cards, order updates, delivery actions and guided post-purchase support for retail and e-commerce.
Appointments
Financial services
Branded account notifications and guided service interactions for banks and fintechs, designed around the applicable compliance requirements.
Customer support
Structured self-service flows with rich information and a route to assisted support where available.
Frequently Asked Questions
RCS (Rich Communication Services) extends carrier messaging beyond SMS. RCS Business Messaging supports verified sender branding, rich media, cards and suggested-reply buttons in supported messaging apps on RCS-capable devices.
Messagify's published starting rate is ₹0.13 per RCS message. RCS is billed when a message is delivered, and recipients who can't receive RCS get a fallback SMS from ₹0.12. Final pricing depends on use case and volume.
Yes. Messages are sent as JSON requests through the RCS API, and replies, suggested-action taps and delivery events come back through webhooks. It shares authentication and delivery reporting with Messagify's other communication APIs.
Prepare your agent's brand details (name, logo, colours, contact and privacy information) and use case, complete brand verification, test on RCS-enabled devices, then launch on the supported carriers. Messagify guides each step, and SMS fallback can be set up in parallel.
Yes. Messagify follows a consent-based opt-in process for RCS Business Messaging — see our opt-in form for the exact consent flow we use.
Both support rich business conversations, but they use different networks, apps, verification processes and reachability rules. Many businesses evaluate both and keep SMS available where a recipient cannot receive the preferred rich channel.
Yes. Messagify's RCS route reaches subscribers on Jio, Airtel and Vi (Vodafone Idea). Each recipient still needs an RCS-capable phone with RCS turned on, and your agent must be launched on their carrier, so keep SMS as the fallback.
No. Reachability depends on the device, messaging app, RCS settings, carrier and whether the business agent is launched for that route. Capability checks and an SMS fallback should be part of deployment planning.
Yes. A messaging workflow can use SMS when a recipient is not RCS-capable, but delivery receipts and message IDs should be handled carefully to avoid sending duplicates.
Related Guides
Related Channels
Bring RCS to Your Business
Talk to our team about launching RCS Business Messaging alongside your existing channels.