Evolution of messaging (VJD Portfolio)

The Evolution of Messaging Discover the new world of Rich Communications Services (RCS)

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Contents The Evolution of Messaging

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How much will it cost to send an RCS message?

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The decline of app production

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Does RCS mean the death of the app?

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Use case - Basket abandonment

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Use case - Parking

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Use case - Parcel delivery

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What does RCS mean for business?

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Checklist - What should you look for in an RCS provider?

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How can Comapi support you with RCS?

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Executive summary RCS: Any company that uses SMS will know what an efficient and uniquely valuable channel it is. But they will be the first to admit, that like any channel, it has its limits. OTT apps such as WhatsApp have primed consumers for the expectation of rich features including read receipts, images, video, and actionable buttons, yet third-party restrictions and dependency on app installation are barriers for business use.

If you have identified a clear gap in the market for a channel that encompasses both the adoption and value of SMS, with the rich functionality of other messaging apps, we regret to inform you that Google got there first. Rich Communication Services (RCS) and its professional arm, Rich Business Messaging (RBM) are finally here, offering an unprecedented level of potential and capability for brands to communicate with their customers. Having RCS as an additional channel in your omnichannel arsenal will no doubt become very soon not only desirable, but an essential requirement for any modern business.

This eBook explores the benefits of RCS as a channel, and identifies how they can be best utilised for business operations and strategy. We will take a look at the landscape of business to consumer messaging and demonstrate the role RCS will play in communication ecosystems of the present and future. Finally, we will present what this means for your business, and provide you with an essential checklist for RCS adoption.

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The Evolution of Messaging SMS – The Message King (1992-Present Day) From the first SMS sent in December 1992 wishing a Merry Christmas, to the most widely-used data application, a lot changed for the role of SMS in our lives, but the open and read rates have always remained strong. 98% are opened and nine out of 10 are opened in the first three seconds alone.

The unique 160-character limit wasn’t an arbitrary figure plucked out of thin air – it was chosen based on the careful analysis of postcards and Telex messages by SMS co-creator Friedhelm Hillebrand who argued that this was sufficient to express most messages succinctly. He wasn’t wrong. Mark Twain once wrote that he didn’t have time to write a short letter, so he wrote a long one. When restraint meets creativity, there is great power in this form of communication.

A2P messaging has infinite amount of uses, and businesses can be almost certain that their customers have read and consumed the material, simply by the act of opening the message (which we know the overwhelming majority are doing). So long as the text is written clearly, a simple glance is enough to digest the information at that scale. Businesses that leverage SMS can be sure customers are not only getting the message, but that they have actually given their attention to it, putting them at a huge advantage.

But of course, SMS has its limits. With no rich functionality, it’s acting as the envelope to more exciting content with the form of external links, and compared to other messaging channels today, SMS offers few useful features like website preview, read receipts or interactive buttons.

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MMS – The Promise Unfulfilled (2002- Present Day) When you describe RCS to someone in layman’s terms (SMS, but with rich communication), you would forgive

IM – The Age of Instant (1997-2012)

them for bringing up the neglected stepchild of the

Instant Messaging (IM) can be traced back to the sixties, but it wasn’t

messaging world, Multimedia Messaging Service

until the late 1990s with the familiar ping of AOL’s AIM, or Microsoft’s

(MMS). Built on top of SMS, MMS allows users to send

MSN that IM really took off. IM on desktop and laptop devices

up to 40 seconds of video, images, or even audio. But

became the norm in a fast-paced modern world that even email was

in addition to a plague of technical adoption issues,

struggling to keep up with. With the use of emojis to better express

MMS failed to reach the scale of SMS because its

users, the ability to communicate in real-time in a way that more

functionality beyond sending or receiving rich content

closely mimicked real-life conversation, and the dawn of group chats,

is non-existent, and at the same time as the technical

IM set a new standard for informality in messaging that would ripple

barriers that first halted it began to crumble, there

throughout all other channels.

were, by that time, many other services that could do the same thing and more, but with much more ease,

IM also saw the advent of functionality outside of simply chatting. For

and at a fraction of the cost.

example, users could send files, play games, call, or video chat. IM even started to support advertising. It was also the first time that you could see whether a user was online and available to chat.

Ironically, while native apps looked to services like MSN Messenger for a taste of what their own platforms could achieve, untethered by a desk, and more easily adopted, mobile apps would eventually bleed traditional IM dry. Five years after the 1st generation of iPhone, MSN Messenger signed off for the last time.

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OTT – The Mobile Movement (2011- Present Day) Smartphone adoption grew at twice the rate of internet adoption, and four times the rate of television ownership. Seemingly overnight, consumers grew a 24-hour window to the world that would remain in their hands, in their pockets, by the side of their beds as they slept.

Unlike the days of IM, where users would sign in and hope their friends were signed in too, virtual chatting was no longer something prearranged or attached to an ethernet cable. It arrived, instantaneously on your phone without warning, wherever you were, and it provided valuable interruption to real life.

Facebook Messenger separated itself from its mother app in 2011, and set sail into the same waters WhatsApp had two years earlier. Today they each have over 1 billion users, with functionality as fun, useful and diverse as GIF keyboards, transferring payment, sending voice messages or presenting users with rich card carousels. Users also liked that the services were essentially free compared to SMS if used over Wi-Fi. OTT apps have huge potential in the world of business messaging, with their ability to both reach customers in an entertaining and informal way, and be reached, anytime, anywhere, at the click of a very convenient button. But with each OTT messaging app creating its own rules around marketing or even operational communications sent by businesses, it can be a tricky area to navigate when it comes to A2P. If only there was a new universal standard of rich messaging that is only governed by regional message regulations instead of a myriad of private companies‌

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RCS – The Prodigal Son (2008 2011 2018-???)

This time around seems to be the third time lucky for RCS. With the vast improvement in mobile internet coverage and user base of OTT messaging apps growing every day, it’s a now or never moment, and one that Google, carriers and OEMs have come together for, to offer users a fluid and superior service, and businesses a never-seen-before opportunity for communication. From images, to video, location sharing, smart-buttons, and more, the possibilities for RCS are endless, and yet, there will be no learning curve when it comes to adoption, as SMS and OTT apps have primed consumers for over a decade.

Think of RCS as the 2nd generation of standard handset messaging, ready to shed its archaic connotations, but not lose any of its unique advantages.

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Send more engaging messages than ever before, with rich features In today’s tech-central society, there are many channels out there that boast rich message features, but there is only one that actually has it in the name. Rich Communication Services (RCS) boasts the whole spectrum of media (including pictures, audio, videos and GIFs); branding in the form of a verified sender profile, name, logo and custom colours; typing indicators, delivery and read receipts; website preview; and suggested reply and action buttons in the form of ‘chips’, which is great, as 60% of users like having images, messages and key features all in one place. 83% of respondents are also attracted to RCS because it enables location services to make messages more relevant and dynamic, such as making recommendations based on the user’s location, or offering a taxi service from the user’s exact co-ordinates that they share – a ground-breaking feature for those in the leisure and hospitality industry.

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Empower your customers with full features all in one place There are many new features to RCS, but almost all of them have a shared goal: keeping customers in one place and therefore more engaged with content as a consumer.

Worrying about click-through rates will become a thing of the past: send a boarding pass, accept payments, display an interactive map or an array of products embedded in rich-card carousels, all while staying in RCS. But if you do need to take your customers to a browser, simply look to the success of a recent Vodafone campaign, which saw click-through rates using RCS 25 times higher than they experienced with SMS. 56% of consumers like being able to schedule appointments without leaving their inbox, and 44% of current RCS users like it because they don’t have to download another mobile app to complete their tasks. This is unsurprising when you consider that 42% of consumers dislike switching between apps to contact different people or businesses and 43% of consumers dislike switching between apps to use different communication tools.

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Provide superior communication, with a low- to no-barrier entry With 59% of consumers preferring to have their favourite communication functions built into their phone, and not as additional app to download, an important point to consider is the very low barrier to entry that RCS will provide. From a consumer perspective, with retroactive updates to most Android handsets and RCS coming as the standard messaging app on all new handsets, most people will not necessarily notice they have been upgraded to RCS, just that their standard messaging app suddenly now has more functionality. You will not have to rely upon your customers downloading the app manually (although there’s no reason why they couldn’t before the retrofit reaches their phone), meaning as if by magic, you will be able to start sending rich communication to them overnight, and really take advantage of the novelty of this new channel, perhaps before their friends and family even have.

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Have a conversation that your customers will remember One of the most exciting opportunities for businesses with RCS is that now every message will come loaded with the potential to be a conversation, enabling faster response times, greater engagement and a better overall customer experience.

Whether you are sending a PDF receipt, a live update or a marketing message, with RCS, you are easily allowing users to interact with you the same way they would with friends and family, breaking down barriers of formality and therefore making them more receptive to your brand and marketing outcomes. Businesses should stop thinking of communications with their customers as a one-way message and start thinking of every communication as a conversation and opportunity.

Using a native app will already make users psychologically primed to engage in a chat, but with the addition of ‘chips’ (smart-reply buttons), the ability to see when users are typing, and easy chatbot-integration, you can guide consumers to more conversions more effortlessly than ever before. After all, over half of all consumers already say it’s easier to communicate with a business over text than email and the perception is that it’s quicker.

This is before most have even made the switch over to RCS which will improve things dramatically. 82% of current RCS users say they prefer RCS to SMS because of its additional functionality and utility, with 83% saying they prefer hitting ‘action buttons’ to typing and, curiously, for those interested in conversational commerce, 61% are even attracted to the RCS capability to integrate with payments enabling ‘buy now’ transactions directly from the message. Switching from a 1-way strategy to 2-way might seem like you are going to have to apply extra resource, but with the right provider, your input will be hardly noticeable compared to your boost in ROI. 11

Be bot-ready for faster and more tailored customer experiences

Let’s say a user is enquiring about product that is out-of-stock:

No matter your communication needs and desired outcomes, a

a bot can give them a date when it is expected to be back,

chatbot can help to inform, engage and convert your customers,

offer to contact them when it is back, or offer up a selection

with little to no human effort, and in a 2018 study, 89% of

of alternatives if they need it immediately. Or if a user needs

respondents showed an interest in the ability of RCS messages

to change an appointment or reservation, a bot can arrange

to enable automated, chatbot, conversational interaction

this probably quicker than a human agent could. Resolving

with consumers.

problems and inquiries quickly will be sure to increase customer satisfaction, and should the conversation start to run outside of what the bot can capably handle, a human agent can quickly take up the chat reigns.

When it comes to RCS, not only does it support botintegration, its features also complement the use of a bot nicely. Bots can offer up carousel cards of products, services or information, enable users to purchase in-app, supply PDF tickets and receipts and use chips to facilitate fast conversation and resolution. Whereas before, users and your agents would have to be held up in lengthy and costly phone calls to manage all these agendas, they can now all be handled within a single-app, at a fraction of the time and cost. With 61% of consumers saying they would engage with companies more if they offered a more personalised service, chatbots are a great way to take advantage of this consumer preference!

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Increased brand trust With fake news at the epicentre of public-media relations in 2017, it may come as no surprise that Gartner the same year predicted that by 2022, most people in mature economies will consume more false information than true. What does this have to do with RCS? Well, consumers have never been more cynical or cautious as a result, and businesses will have to respond with more trust-worthy communications or risk losing out on users who are not convinced by the legitimacy of the sender. With 79% of consumers saying that company branding and verified IDs make them feel safer messaging a company, it was essential that RCS provided this capability for businesses, and Google delivered.

Businesses enrol in a verification process that will provide them with a Google verified ‘agent’ profile (with additional company information such as website, email address and phone number) that the user can view at any time during the conversation. This is set up in much the same way as one verifies their website with Google analytics so should not be a time-consuming process. RCS also allows companies to display their company name, choose a colour scheme for the conversation and display their logo in the same way a user would display their profile picture. These may seem like small things, but they go a long way to making users feel more secure, with 74% of people saying they are more likely to communicate with a brand using RCS, and 86% indicating that branding shown to recipients as the sender ID (rather than a mobile number or a short code) was an advantage.

The addition of website preview is also crucial, so that users can view a link before clicking on it and be more confident in its security and validity, that is, if a link needs to be provided at all, since so much of the RCS experience is about keeping users inapp as much as possible.

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Improved data security Security of the data transferred over any channel is always a concern, and 66% of people worry about 3rd party apps accessing and misusing data. Fortunately, 67% of people agree that RCS is attractive because it offers enhanced security like end-to-end encryption, and this rises to 80% within the financial services and public sectors. Furthermore, compared to OTT messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp where trust is typically quite low, 74% of people would trust mobile operators to use RCS, and 64% would trust a telco-based service (such as RCS) more than chat apps to deliver business messaging.

Because of the increased trust and security that RCS offers, it also has great value in offering verification services in a similar, yet more enhanced way to SMS. For example, RCS can be used for 2-factor verification, with the added featured of being able to copy and paste one-time passwords directly (without even opening the message, but with the use of a smart button option) for greater consumer ease without compromising on security.

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Encourage commerce Finally, there are many features of RCS that lend themselves beautifully to encouraging purchases directly in the app, increasing conversions and ROI. RCS will support Google Pay (and presumably other payment methods will become available as adoption becomes more common) allowing users to make payments securely with a few clicks. The carousel rich card template is perfect for displaying an assortment of products or services that have been selected for them based on the user’s conversation with the agent or bot, such as placing an order from the menu in advance, booking additional hotel and spa services or selecting which handset a user would like next as their phone contract is up for renewal. Best of all, unlike other OTT channels, RCS is only governed by the countries messaging regulations which makes it very friendly for marketing communications, especially for companies who have the edge on their competitors and use RCS while it is still an exciting novelty for users.

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How much will it cost to send an RCS message?

What do we know so far about the price?

The dust is yet to settle on the cost of RCS, however, what we have inferred from early adopter countries and typical usage so far is that it is expected to be in line with the regional costs of SMS, even with all the additional functionality it offers. There are also expected to be two pricing models – transactional (i.e. the cost per message) and session-based (the cost per conversation).

What will this mean for SMS? RCS will no doubt become the standard app for messaging for at the very least all Android users, but this process will not only take a number of years, and for those who worship at the mantle of iPhone, it’s a possibility they may never use RCS, instead using an Apple exclusive channel such as iMessage. This means that, at least for the foreseeable future, SMS is not going anywhere and should not be ignored if you want to ensure everyone is getting the message (which presumably, you do!).

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The decline in app production Technology continues to evolve It’s no secret that both app production and app use is in considerable decline. Apps had their place in business-to-consumer ecosystems once – websites were often designed with desktop usage in mind and mobile as an afterthought making accessing a company’s website a clunky and disengaging experience. But now that sites are not just designed to be responsive, but are often designed mobile-first, app usage has started to decrease, and given that apps are expensive to manufacture and maintain, many businesses are now seeing little value in producing them. Combine this with the fact that RCS is designed to keep users in one place, allowing them to source information without having to scour for it themselves on a browser, and store booking information or tickets and vouchers without another app, it seems unlikely that companies will redevelop this interest. So does this mean the death of the app? Well yes, and no.

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Does RCS mean the death of the app?

A great app will continue to deliver value While the production of apps will certainly continue to slow, those with well-developed apps that provide genuine value have a unique opportunity with RCS with the ability to include deep links in their messages to push more users to the app (if they have it installed) or to the Play Store to install it. What’s more, some industries such as the financial sector, or gaming companies, who have particularly unique or dependent offerings in their app experiences, can use RCS to complement their app usage, in the same way that push notifications are used currently. Don’t forget, RCS can also be used in tangent with your two-factor verification, allowing users to copy their one-time code without even opening the message, and pasting into your app if required.

In a nutshell, if you have a worthwhile app, RCS will be a great way to drive traffic to it and increase usage. If you do not have an app, or are considering cutting out the expense of managing it in favour of something more efficient, then RCS will be a great replacement for this.

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Use case - Basket abandonment With 75% of baskets abandoned, RCS is a great opportunity to re-engage with your potential customers, not just for ROI, but also to inform and re-target your future basket abandonment endeavours, optimising your results each time.

For example, a known user abandons their basket (you have their phone number as a mandatory field of your registration and they would have consented to this kind of communication as part of this). You can then use RCS to send a message such as: “Hi Customer X, It’s Fran here, your personal shopper from Acme. I noticed you left some items behind in your basket, but don’t worry! I’ve saved them for you and will keep them behind the counter for 24 hours. Was there something I can help with?

Chat with me to let me know, or click here to complete your check out.”

With RCS, it will be easier than ever to tailor a message to your customers, making the message more appealing to them. With the ability for the user to instantly reply to the message, you can mimic the experience of a personal shopper and make the customer feel as if they have the full attention of an individual. The user will be able to chat with an agent and explain if they had any problems with the check out. It could be, for instance, that the website crashed, or that the payment option the customer wanted to use wasn’t available. The agent will then have valuable information to the business that they can pass on, and may be able to assist with the completion of the sale in the chat, especially with the potential to support payment.

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Use case - Basket abandonment It may be, as is the case for the majority of abandoned baskets, that the shipping cost was too high. Whereas in the past with abandoned basket emails that tend to go straight in with an enticing discount, agents can go on a discovery journey with the user and then offer, if required, a personalised discount based on their needs, such as 10% off, or waiving shipping.

It will be best to display the objects the customer has abandoned as some hours may have passed and visual reminders will be helpful to both remind and entice the customer. Fortunately, RCS will support high-quality images, and also rich card carousels, which could include either the product abandoned, or even recommended products as an add-on. If the brand is known for its informality and zany communication style, RCS also supports the use of GIFs to get the customers over the line with a bit of humour. The real opportunity in RCS is the diversity of its potential uses, enabling brands to customise their re-targeting efforts with ease.

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Use case - Parking The sound of loose change jangling in pockets is getting less and less common each day, which is why many parking providers have gone for more tech-savvy solutions such as allowing users to pay by SMS or a web portal. However, while innovative and full of potential, these methods can still be a bit clunky sometimes. With RCS, a user would be able to very easily purchase their parking and even extend the time they are parked for with the click of a button.

A user could receive a message such as: “The parking for your vehicle AB12 CDE is due to run out at 12:34pm. To extend your time, click on the of the options below.� The user can then extend their parking without barely having to think about it, and will receive a confirmation message to follow to give them absolute peace of mind. When it comes to making payments in the chat, users will also be reassured by the Verified by Google Agent Profile assigned to the business, and the supported branding such as custom colour background, profile picture and name.

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Use case - Parcel delivery RCS is a great tool to support the delivery of parcels for customers. Smart button ‘chips’ will allow customers to pick a slot that suits them, and the support of Google Maps will allow them to track their parcel with eagle eyes. What’s more, if users have any kind of issue with the delivery or product, they can instantly engage with an agent to resolve the matter in a way that is both cost-efficient to the company, but also satisfactory for the customer.

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What does RCS mean for businesses?

RCS is here, and you can’t afford to ignore it. So what is it that you will have to do?

According to Juniper Research, businesses are still estimated to send 2.7 trillion SMS messages by 2022, and without word from Apple on when (or if) they will adopt RCS, it’s going to be more important than ever to deliver a truly multi-channel experience to make sure your messages are reaching everyone you need them to. Without a strong offering from a provider, businesses will be stuck in nightmare of complicated audience segmentation just to send out basic operational comms, but there are solutions out there to help.

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Checklist - What should you look for in an RCS provider?

Supports new functionality

Provides rich data for reporting

As a channel that is expected to constantly evolve, you’ll need

It’s not just inbound messages that you’ll need

a provider that can keep up with the additional functionality

to consider when sending with RCS, but also the

and new template options as soon as they are available so

potential data that you can get back from a campaign

that you are still taking advantage of everything RCS can offer.

such as delivery and read rates, and engagement with

You’ll need a flexible API that is proven to keep up.

the media.

Allows you to easily compose messages

Provides fall-back channels, automatically

It’s all very well having so many new exciting features, but you

It will be an impossible task to try to attempt to figure

need to be able to construct your RCS messages with ease, in

out which of your audiences are able to receive RCS

a way that isn’t time consuming for your agents.

and which can’t, and even more time-consuming forming messages in several different templates. You

Manages inbound conversation solution

need a provider that can enable you to send just once,

Don’t forget that RCS is not going to be a No-Reply channel

but to every channel, with an automated fall back of

like email. It has been designed to provide you and your

SMS or even an OTT app.

customers with rich conversations. You will need a provider that can handle your increased inbound messages.

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Checklist - What should you look for in an RCS provider?

Is an Early Access Google Partner

Is experienced with sending at scale

If the provider you are considering hasn’t

Any communication you have with your

been invited by Google to their Early Access

customers is important, and whether you are

Programme, then Google hasn’t trusted them and

sending one message, or one million, you need a

perhaps you shouldn’t either! You need a provider

provider who is both experienced at bulk sends,

who has tried and tested RCS and knows what

and who will give attention to your campaigns,

they are doing with it.

large or small.

Has a superior knowledge base

Seamless integration

There might be a number of providers who are

Lastly, you will need a provider that is able to

popping up on the scene trying to seize RCS for

integrate RCS into your other messaging channel

the golden opportunity that it is, and many may

platforms with ease, and preferably one that will

be successful, but do you really want to be their

make other future channel adoption simpler if you

guinea-pig? We recommend providers who have

have already integrated RCS to ensure you are

been on the scene a while.

keeping up with both the market, and consumer habits.

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How can Comapi support you with RCS? We handle the hard parts We have the perfect segmentation solution for you. While RCS will become the default message app for most in the years to come, there will still be those who will either not enable it, or won’t have access for a long while, which is why you can set automated back-up channels using our Branch feature, making sure every one of your customers gets the message, either via RCS, or a fall-back of SMS, or another channel of your choosing. You won’t have to pour over lists to figure out who to send what message to – you just send your message and we’ll do the rest.

We are ready for the future With the simplicity of our One API, you’ll only ever have to integrate once in order to access RCS, and other channels, from SMS to Facebook Messenger and push notifications. If you’re already integrated with a channel from us, the business arm of RCS, RBM, will be available to you as soon as it is released. We even support custom body in your send so that as RCS evolves, you’ll be able to access any new features or message types it releases, as soon as they are released.

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How can Comapi support you with RCS? We give you the tools to chat Remember, the great thing about RCS is how much it facilitates 2-way messaging.

Your customers are going to want to talk to you more than ever, but you’ll need a way to stay on top of all of that communication. With our Chat platform, you’ll be able to view a customer’s entire message history (kept for a time you set in accordance with your own data and privacy rules) even if they are communicating across a variety of channels. You’ll also be able to funnel these conversations to the appropriate teams, and easily hand chats between relevant agents, offering a truly contextual experience for your consumers. With all of the new inbound you will be receiving, this will be essential!

We take away the complexity of your builds We’ve discussed a lot about all of things you will be able to do with RCS, and you may be wondering then just how complicated it is to build a message on this new channel.

With Comapi, our message builder tool will make building an RCS message easier than composing a rich email, but unlike email, your message will be more closely personalised to your sender, and also far more interactive.

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How can Comapi support you with RCS? With over 16 years’ experience in delivering business communications, Comapi is home to some of the world’s most informed experts when it comes to A2P. Whether you want to send or receive one message, or millions, to one territory, or hundreds, with a 100% uptime rate and global access without ties to specific providers, we can intelligently route messages to the highest quality networks ensuring your messages are always received.

Comapi is also one of the companies that Google has invited into their Early Access Programme for Rich Business Messaging (RBM), which means you can be an early adopter of this vital channel.

Why become an early adopter?

Take advantage of this new functionality and increase the efficiency of your business, and the satisfaction of your customers, overnight. Gain the edge on the market by registering your interest in RBM, and gain access to the possibilities of RCS before your competitors.

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Want to start using RCS? Get in touch and see if you qualify for our Early Access Beta Program +44 333 344 8880 sales@comapi.com www.comapi.com Twitter

@ComapiMessaging

Facebook facebook.com/comapitech LinkedIn

linkedin.com/company/comapi

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