RCS messaging: Turn every text into a branded, interactive experience

Texting hasn’t changed much in twenty years. RCS messaging changes that math. Rich Communication Services (RCS) replaces the plain text bubble with images, video, carousels, and tappable buttons, all inside the native messaging app your customers already have open. Insider One now supports RCS as a new channel alongside SMS and MMS, so marketing and customer experience teams can build the same rich, branded experiences they run on email and push, without asking customers to download anything new.

What is RCS messaging?

RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is the modern successor to SMS and MMS, built on Google’s Rich Business Messaging (RBM) standard. Where SMS is limited to 160 characters of plain text, RCS supports high-resolution images, video, GIFs, and PDFs, plus interactive elements like buttons and quick replies, all inside the default messaging app on a customer’s phone.

For marketing teams, that means the text channel finally supports the kind of visual, interactive content that email and app push have offered for years. For customers, it means a message that looks and feels like a real conversation with a brand, not a string of characters from an unknown number.

Why Insider One built RCS as its own channel

RCS lives in Insider One exactly where marketers expect to find it: as a message type on the campaign design step, right next to SMS and MMS. An RCS campaign starts from the same SMS flow your team already knows, and Insider One handles the fallback automatically, so a message still reaches the customer as SMS or MMS if their device doesn’t support RCS.

The value is straightforward: RCS lets brands build more engaging messages using interactive tools and rich media, while establishing trust through a verified, branded sender profile. It isn’t solving a single pain point so much as unlocking a broader set of use cases, from product discovery to service recovery to fraud prevention, on a channel most customers already check dozens of times a day.

What’s new: the capabilities within Insider One’s RCS channel

Rich media, built in. Send images, video, GIFs, and PDFs directly in the message thread, no landing page required to show a product, a boarding pass, or a policy document.

A verified, branded sender identity. Every RCS message can carry your company logo and a verification badge, so customers see a recognizable, authenticated brand instead of an unknown number.

Interactive elements that drive action. Add calls-to-action and quick reply buttons directly to the message, letting customers respond or take the next step without leaving the thread.

Visibility SMS never offered. Insider One tracks open rate on RCS messages, giving marketing and CX teams a signal SMS has never been able to provide, alongside the click and conversion data they already track.

Built for how enterprise teams actually use messaging

RCS is designed to serve the industries and use cases where rich, trusted, two-way messaging matters most.

Ecommerce. A recommendation carousel showcases high-resolution images of several products at once. Each item carries its own “View product” CTA, taking the customer straight to the product page from inside the message. The same format works for promotions and cart-abandonment flows.

Travel and hospitality. When a flight is delayed, a static alert isn’t enough. An RCS message can offer suggested actions instead: passengers tap “Rebook now” or “Claim meal voucher,” resolving the disruption without hunting down a service desk.

Banking. When a suspicious transaction occurs, the customer receives an RCS message carrying the bank’s verified logo, with two buttons: “Yes, it was me,” which unblocks the card instantly, or “No, secure my account,” which triggers an immediate call with a fraud specialist. The verified sender profile is what makes this kind of message trustworthy in a channel scammers have long exploited.

Where RCS fits among the vendors already testing the format

RCS is still an emerging channel, and the root capabilities, rich media, branding, interactivity, are broadly consistent across the vendors building on it. What sets a platform apart isn’t a proprietary RCS feature; it’s whether those capabilities are built into a single, unified system rather than bolted onto a messaging point solution.

Insider One’s RCS channel ships with the full set of capabilities the RBM standard supports, positioning it as a mature, complete implementation rather than an early-stage rollout. It sits inside the same platform already running your SMS, email, and [internal link: customer journey orchestration], so a marketing or CX team can build an RCS message using the same segments, triggers, and reporting they use everywhere else, instead of managing a separate tool for one channel.

Get started with RCS messaging

RCS is available now inside Insider One as a message type alongside SMS and MMS. If your team is running SMS campaigns today, adding RCS means building on the flow you already use, with richer media, a verified brand identity, and open-rate visibility from day one.

 👉 Request a personalized demo of Insider One today to see RCS in action and speak with your account team about setup requirements and supported use cases.

FAQ

What is RCS messaging?

RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is the successor to SMS and MMS, built on Google’s Rich Business Messaging (RBM) standard. It supports images, video, GIFs, PDFs, carousels, and interactive buttons inside a customer’s default messaging app, instead of plain text.

How is RCS different from SMS and MMS?

SMS is limited to plain text and MMS adds basic media, but neither supports branded sender profiles, tappable buttons, quick replies, or open-rate tracking. RCS adds all of these while still working through the same messaging app customers already use.

Where does RCS live inside Insider One?

RCS is a message type on the campaign design step, positioned alongside SMS and MMS. An RCS campaign starts from the same SMS flow marketing teams already use.

What happens if a customer’s device doesn’t support RCS?

Insider One automatically falls back to SMS or MMS, so the message still reaches the customer even if their device or carrier doesn’t support RCS.

What can I send in an RCS message?

Images, video, GIFs, and PDFs, along with calls-to-action and quick reply buttons. Messages can also carry your company logo and a verification badge as part of a branded sender profile.

Which industries is RCS built for?

The primary use case is ecommerce, for product promotions, cart-abandonment messages, and recommendation carousels. It also supports travel and hospitality use cases like flight updates and rebooking, and banking use cases like fraud alerts from a verified sender.

Can I track engagement on RCS messages?

Yes. Insider One tracks open rate on RCS messages in addition to click and conversion data, a level of visibility SMS doesn’t offer.