The mobile communications specialist SMS Speedway is helping businesses to adopt a powerful new text messaging tool.
RCS – short for rich communication services – offers multiple benefits compared with conventional SMS texts or WhatsApp messages.
Crucially, messages sent by RCS can display a business’s logo and brand name, a branded mini web page, plus a blue tick verification mark to reassure customers that the message is genuine. Senders also get read receipts.
RCS is in use on Android devices now but adoption is set to rise sharply when it becomes available on Apple. It is anticipated that Apple will fully support RCS with the release of its iOS 18 software, widely expected this autumn.
Brad Kieser, the founder and chief executive of SMS Speedway, said: “Think of RCS as SMS or WhatsApp on steroids. It’s the evolution of text messaging bringing app-like functionality to your customers’ inbox.
“The query we get time and again from clients is ‘Can we have our logo in the message?’ You can’t with SMS but with RCS you can. That creates a positive brand impression while the verification feature is a real blow to fraudsters.”
RCS removes the biggest constraint of SMS, that messages are limited to 160 characters of black and white text with a link. There is an automatic SMS fallback for messages sent to non-RCS devices.
Brad added: “Apple’s support for RCS is going to open the floodgates. We anticipate almost 100 per cent market penetration by the end of 2025.
“RCS is a very significant product and businesses need to get on board with it now. We can help them to do that.”
SMS Speedway – based near Carlisle, Cumbria – is working in partnership with BT to provide RCS solutions to businesses.
It can offer clients advanced features of RCS such as videos and image carousels, interactive buttons and menus, and detailed analytics.
If required, SMS Speedway can integrate RCS messaging with its FaceCheck ID product – providing biometric face verification for added security – and with its AI-based customer service and sales solutions.
Research by BT shows conclusively that users value RCS. Some 71 per cent feel more confident about dealing with a business that sends a branded message while 77 per cent prefer a branded message over regular SMS.
Around 90 per cent of RCS messages are opened within 15 minutes and, crucially, the likelihood of making a purchase is 27 per cent higher.
To find out more and to contact SMS Speedway, visit https://html.sms-speedway.com/ or call 01228 217222.
