> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://onextel-09023014.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# About RCS

> What RCS is, what you can send with it, and what has to happen before your first message goes out.

RCS — Rich Communication Services — is the upgrade to SMS that lives in the phone's own
messaging app. There is nothing for your customer to install. Where SMS gives you 160 characters
from an unfamiliar short code, RCS gives you your brand name, your logo, images, carousels and
buttons, inside the same conversation thread.

Google runs the business side of it as
[RCS Business Messaging](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/rcs-business-messaging),
which reaches customers on Android and iOS.

## What you can send

| | RCS | SMS |
| - | - | - |
| Sender shown as | Your brand name and logo, with a verified badge | A sender ID or a number |
| Message body | Rich text, images, video, audio | 160 characters of plain text |
| Layouts | Rich cards and carousels of 2–10 cards | None |
| Buttons | Suggested replies and actions — open a link, dial, share or request a location, add a calendar event | None |
| Feedback | Delivered, read, and which button was tapped | Delivered only |

That last row is the one people underestimate. On SMS you learn whether the message arrived. On
RCS you learn whether it was read and what the customer did next, which makes the channel
measurable in a way SMS never has been.

## Who is involved

RCS has more parties than SMS, and that is why setting it up takes longer than switching on a
sender ID.

| Party | Role |
| - | - |
| **You**, the brand | Own the content, the templates and the customer relationship |
| **OneXtel**, your agent | Registers you, submits templates, and sends on your behalf |
| **The operator** — Jio, Airtel or Vi in India | Carries the message and approves the sender on its network |
| **Google** | Runs the RCS Business Messaging platform underneath |

Each of those is a gate. A template is approved per operator, and a sender profile is launched
per operator, so "RCS is live" usually means live on one network before the others.

## Before your first message

<Steps>
  <Step title="A sender profile, launched">
    Your brand identity on the channel — name, logo, colour, description. It has to be created
    and then launched with each operator you want to reach. See
    [Sender profiles](/guides/rcs-platform/sender-profiles).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Approved templates">
    Message content is approved in advance, like DLT for SMS. See
    [Templates](/guides/rcs-platform/templates) and the
    [template guidelines](/guides/rcs-platform/template-guidelines) for what gets rejected.
  </Step>

  <Step title="A plan for handsets that cannot receive RCS">
    Not every device, network or subscriber is RCS-capable. Configure
    [SMS fallback](/guides/omnichannel/fallback-overview) so those customers still get the
    message.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  **Fallback is not optional in practice.** RCS coverage is good and growing, but it is never
  total. A campaign without fallback silently reaches fewer people than you think.
</Note>

## Where to go next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Send your first campaign" icon="paper-plane" href="/guides/rcs-campaigns/overview">
    Build and launch RCS campaigns from the portal.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Set up the channel" icon="sliders" href="/guides/rcs-platform/overview">
    Sender profiles, templates, billing and reports.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Send from your own code" icon="code" href="/api-reference/rcs/overview">
    The RCS API — templates, sends, callbacks and error codes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Send from your marketing platform" icon="plug" href="/plugins/overview">
    MoEngage, CleverTap and the other connectors.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Reference

* [RCS Business Messaging](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/rcs-business-messaging) — Google's own documentation for the platform underneath
* [RCS error codes](/api-reference/rcs/error-codes) — what each operator rejection means


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