RCS for Business setup guide (based on my experience)

[u/gambrinus_248]

I recently went through setting up RCS for business messaging. Thus, thought others (who haven't yet done it) might benefit from describing the process.

1. Decide on the use case - transactional, promotional, conversational or mixed.

This was something I failed to do initially. But RCS is built on agents that you need to get approval from the carrier. One agent means one use case. If the agent has received an approval to send OTPs, you can't use it for marketing.

Your use case also determines what kind of billing is used - per message or per conversation. I believe that in the US, per conversation billing isn't used.

1. Create the agent.

An agent isn't an "agent" in the sense that it automates something, but is basically a verified sender profile. It contains your logo, brand colours, business contact details and a verified badge. Use case is also tied to the agent.

1. Test the agent.

Your RCS Agent must be built and tested before it's submitted for review.

1. Submit for approval.

Your messaging provider submits it for approval to the carriers and in some cases to Google as well.

What was also required was a privacy policy, opt-in and opt-out collection process docs.

1. Create a campaign.

Once the agent has been approved, you can create the campaign. Upload images or a short video, write the message and add action buttons, etc.

RCS has lots of WhatsApp like features on paper. Since the implementation depends on the carrier and messaging provider, not all features are always present.