Education Portal for Students in India

What is the difference between SMS and RCS chat?

“Merry Christmas.” More than 30 years ago, that was the content of the very first short messaging service (SMS) message. Almost immediately after, the new and ingenious invention was implemented into mobile phones by manufacturers around the world. End users loved its quick and effective performance, and it was easy to use.

Fast forward to today and much has changed in the world of mobile messaging, including the introduction of rich communication services (RCS). RCS enables enterprises and brands to connect with users via large, high-quality snippets and attachments on Android devices, while SMS has less functionality but wider device capability.

SMS established itself as the mobile messaging technology of choice some time ago, but RCS can augment SMS’s more limited features. As business communication continues to evolve, RCS will become more important as a complement to an SMS marketing strategy.

Why does my messages say RCS?

RCS stands for Rich Communication Services, a standard international protocol used in the telecommunications industry to improve SMS/MMS messaging on Android phones. Inspired by popular instant messaging apps, RCS works through the native messaging app on your phone.

Is RCS chat free?

Do RCS chats cost money? – When you use RCS chats, your messages are sent over Wi-Fi and mobile data. As long as you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network that you don’t have to pay to use, there should be no cost to send and receive messages. If your messages are sent using mobile data, the cost is based on your mobile data plan.

What are the disadvantages of RCS messaging?

Why SMS still has an edge – Choosing the right communication protocol is crucial for your business. A careful look at SMS and RCS reveals that SMS—the reliable grandparent of messaging—has a significant advantage in many critical aspects. Its universally compatible, cost-effective, and reliable qualities make it a superior choice for businesses seeking efficient communication.

• SMS’s universal reach is unrivaled, providing access to virtually every mobile device.
• Its cost-effectiveness simplifies budgeting for small businesses and those on tighter budgets.
• Not to mention, the exceptional reliability of SMS ensures your messages get delivered under any network condition.
• While RCS—the new kid on the block—promises engaging, app-like experiences with rich media and interactivity, these features come with limitations.

The adoption rate is low, requires newer devices and data connections, and poses potential security risks. Moreover, RCS’s increased complexity and costs can be prohibitive for many businesses. Therefore, SMS comes out on top for most businesses and use cases.

Does RCS delete messages?

What sort of security and privacy is built in? – We also took a deep dive into Google’s RCS-related support documentation, which illuminates some of the details behind everyone’s new favorite chat protocol. Based on the current description of RCS’s security, it doesn’t appear that the company has changed how things work in chat since it described those details to The Verge earlier this year,

If your message is sent and delivered successfully via Google’s RCS, it’s then deleted from Google’s servers. If your message is sent via Google’s RCS, isn’t received, and you ultimately have to fall back to SMS/MMS, it’s also deleted from Google’s servers. If your message is sent via Google’s RCS, routed through another provider, and successfully delivered, it’s deleted from Google’s servers — though other services in the chain may have their own data policies.

However, files like images and videos sent in RCS messages are temporarily stored on Google servers with non-visible, hashed, “random, unguessable URLs.” Be careful who you send files like images to, as well: Metadata isn’t removed from photos, so if location data was attached when it was captured, that is sent to the recipient, too.

To route your messages and enumerate which of your contacts can and can’t receive RCS messages, Google stores some information like your phone number, SIM, and other device identifiers while you’re connected to its RCS/chat protocol, though that information is eventually deleted after about a month if you opt out or become inactive.

Should any of this bother you, just don’t opt in when you get the prompt on your phone.

Is RCS safer than WhatsApp?

RCS vs WhatsApp: Different beasts – In the RCS vs WhatsApp debate, features like read receipts and typing indicators are standard across both platforms. For starters, RCS and WhatsApp are completely different messaging experiences, so this can’t really be a 1:1 comparison. WhatsApp is a Facebook-owned messaging service that requires an internet connection to work.

Users need to manually download the app and sign up for an account before using the service. Once you and your friend or family member both have a WhatsApp account, you can chat on the service pretty seamlessly. As long as you have the app installed and have access to the internet, WhatsApp will work.

RCS, on the other hand, is an advanced messaging protocol that, in theory, will work with all Android phones out of the box as long as carriers add support for it. RCS will eventually be baked into existing messaging apps like Google’s Messages, meaning users don’t have to download a third-party app to use it.

1. The problem is, all carriers don’t support it yet, and even the ones that do don’t support it on every phone model.
2. For instance, the Pixel 3 on Google Fi has supported RCS since January 2019, but the Pixel 4 on Google Fi didn’t have RCS support until earlier today,
3. In fact, without last week’s RCS messaging hack, I couldn’t use RCS on my T-Mobile Pixel 4 XL at all, even though other phones on the network are supported.

Even if you and your friend have RCS enabled and working, it’ll still provide a much different experience overall compared to WhatsApp. A big difference between the two is levels of encryption. RCS messages are encrypted in transit, but they’re not end-to-end encrypted.

• That means Google or your carrier can read your messages, though the messages are encrypted as they travel through the internet.
• By contrast, all WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted, meaning you and your WhatsApp buddy are the only parties who can read those messages.
• WhatsApp also provides an additional level of security in the form of fingerprint lock,

RCS is a messaging protocol, not a service, so this isn’t really a feature it can ever support. Google’s Messages app does not support fingerprint lock, though there are a few third-party apps that add this feature to any app. I think it’s pretty clear: WhatsApp is by far the most secure option out of the two.

RCS does have some bright spots, though. Okay, it has two that I can think of. By nature, RCS features are added to existing SMS/MMS applications to provide advanced messaging features when an internet connection is available. If internet isn’t available, your app will still be able to fall back on the legacy SMS framework.

In contrast, WhatsApp is entirely reliant on an internet connection. No internet? No WhatsApp. RCS also has the promise of eventually being available on every Android handset in the future. So, in a perfect world, you won’t need to get your friends or family to sign up for a new service just so you can both use advanced messaging features.

Does RCS count as SMS?

What is RCS? – It’s not an understatement that SMS has not been able to compete with modern-day IM apps. We’re at the point where texting is synonymous with instant messaging, and we’re not going back. RCS is the evolution of SMS and MMS, It stands for Rich Communication Services, a communication protocol like SMS.

1. RCS differs from traditional SMS by vastly extending the character limit on each message.
2. You can also add all types of media to your messages, letting you share images, videos, and GIFs.
3. You can even send location data and create group chats.
4. You can also receive read receipts, and your messages are also encrypted.

This is made possible as RCS uses internet data to send content instead of the conventional telephony network. However, while SMS is ubiquitous and available on practically every feature phone and smartphone, RCS has some conditions for its availability. You don’t have to sign up for RCS like you do on instant messaging apps, but you still have to fulfill some requirements.

Am I using RCS or SMS?

Check the RCS status of your device –

In the Messages app, navigate to Messages settings, Tap RCS chats, If you can’t find “RCS chats”, tap Chat features, Find the Status value. If Status is Connected, RCS is active on your device.

Should I use SMS or chat?

Cons of chat message – Not all of your customers have access to an internet connection, especially via their phones. Some people may not have smartphones or a good data plan. Texting tends to be the preferred communication method. Depending on the type of chat, you may not be able to contact the customer afterward without gathering more information from them.

• For example, a live chat or web chat will not give you a means of contacting them unless you get their phone number or email address.
• Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp will automatically give you the ability to reach them in the future.) Depending on the type of chat, your customers may need to download or use a chat program, such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

You cannot typically send bulk messages.

Why use chat instead of SMS?

Text vs. chat: what’s the difference? – Text and chat are often used as interchangeable terms. What they refer to is, however, different! In the simplest terms, text is a synonym for an SMS message, delivered to a phone that doesn’t even have to have internet access.

1. Businesses use text messages to let their customers know that an important delivery is coming, their order has been confirmed, or there has been a delay.
2. While useful, (SMS) texting in this context is one-sided.
3. On the other hand, chat refers to two-way conversation between two (or more) parties.
4. In business communication, this means that the customer can reply back or even initiate the conversation on the website via live chat, or within the app via in-app chat.

Let’s dive into a more detailed explanation below.