BUSINESS | Twilio rolls out global rich communication services for business messaging
The launch makes RCS accessible to more than 349,000 active customer accounts through Twilio’s Programmable Messaging and Verify APIs.
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Twilio has announced the worldwide availability of Rich Communication Services (RCS), giving businesses a new way to send branded, verified, and interactive messages to customers.
The launch makes RCS accessible to more than 349,000 active customer accounts through Twilio’s Programmable Messaging and Verify APIs. The company said existing clients can enable RCS with no code changes, while new users can integrate both SMS and RCS through a single platform.
“Building engagement with your customers should be as seamless and trusted as possible,” said Inbal Shani, Twilio’s chief product officer and head of R&D. “RCS makes this a reality by delivering richer interactions, improved deliverability, and increased trust.”
RCS, seen as the biggest upgrade to SMS in decades, allows businesses to send messages that include brand logos, verification badges, interactive buttons, media carousels, and location sharing. The platform also includes automatic SMS fallback when RCS is unavailable, ensuring message delivery.
The technology arrives as consumer skepticism about digital communication grows. Twilio’s 2025 State of Customer Engagement Report found that while 90% of consumers trust some brands, only 15% fully trust them with their data. The report also showed that 88% of consumers are more likely to buy when engagement is personalized in real time, but less than half of brands deliver at that level.
Analysts say RCS could help bridge this trust gap. Verified company branding and interactive features are expected to be especially useful for transactional messages such as order confirmations, delivery updates, and customer service chats. Businesses using RCS have seen customer engagement and conversion rates rise by 32% compared with traditional SMS, according to Futurum Research.
Industry adoption is expanding, fueled in part by Apple’s decision to support RCS on iPhones beginning with iOS 18.2 in December 2024. With coverage across more than 20 countries and 55 carriers, Twilio said companies like Nova Gestões in Latin America and Fresha in Europe are already using RCS to enhance communication.
Adam Holtby, principal analyst at Omdia, described RCS as more than an incremental upgrade. “The capability will help reshape business messaging into an interactive, trusted, and transaction-ready channel,” he said. “What was once a one-way notification system is becoming a two-way enriched workflow.”
Twilio said businesses can begin using RCS today through its console, with carrier onboarding and device compatibility handled by its platform.
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