RCS or Rich Communication Services has been here for sometime now. Today, Google said it had started signing up companies across food, travel, retail & delivery services in the US & Mexico (for a start) into its early access program in order to have them initiate a “better conversations with their customers using RCS.”
Image from Iconfinder
Announced on its official blog, Google explained with RCS, businesses can send more useful & interactive messages to their customers. For example, it allows a retailer can send beautiful images of their products, rather than a text message, & even let the customer select & buy something, all without leaving the messaging app. What’s more, customers who have already opted in to SMS messages from a business get this upgraded experience automatically in Android Messages.
In the US, Google has collaborated with Sprint to enable campaigns with 1-800 Contacts, 1-800-Flowers.com, Booking.com, SnapTravel & Subway, among others, along with messaging partners 3C, CM.com, Mobivity, OpenMarket, Smooch & Twilio. It was also working with Telcel to bring campaigns to Mexico soon with 5 Piso, Broxel, DHL Mexico & Secretaria de Salud along with messaging partners Airmovil, Auronix, Aldeamo & Tiaxa.
In the coming months, Google announced it would be introducing the same RCS messaging to businesses in more regions. Also, at next week’s Mobile World Congress, Google partners will demonstrate how businesses can change the way they engage mobile customers using RCS.
To help make RCS truly universal & give Android users a consistent & familiar experience with access to all that RCS messaging offers, Google added, it had been working closely with carriers & device makers around the world.
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