Why RCS Matters Now | OneSignal’s Investment in Modern Messaging

Business messaging is undergoing one of the most significant transformations since the introduction of SMS. For decades, SMS functioned as the backbone of mobile communication, providing global reach but offering little in the way of trust, security, or modern user experience.

Today, Rich Communication Services (RCS) is emerging as the next-generation standard that finally brings messaging into alignment with how consumers expect to interact: visually, interactively, and with confidence in the authenticity of the sender.

RCS adoption is accelerating rapidly

With support from Google, the Android ecosystem, global carriers, and—importantly—Apple’s 2024 decision to implement RCS within Messages, the entire industry is aligning around a modern, interoperable communication standard.

This alignment is not a theoretical milestone; it represents a structural shift in how brands can reach consumers and how consumers expect brands to communicate with them. The shift from text-only messaging to a richer ecosystem opens up a completely new canvas for engagement; one that supports:

Branded sender identities
Rich media
Suggested replies
Interactive components
Actionable, guided flows

Consumers immediately feel the difference. A message from an unknown number, delivered via SMS, competes with spam, lacks context, and offers no visual cues of legitimacy. RCS replaces that ambiguity with verified branding, logos, secure sender identity, and richer content that builds trust at the very first glance.

The result is a more intuitive, more confidence-inspiring experience that drives substantially stronger engagement. Early adopters across financial services, logistics, retail, hospitality, entertainment, and media are already seeing material lifts in read rates, click-through behavior, and conversion metrics—early indicators of a durable shift in user expectations.

Check out our full breakdown of SMS vs. RCS to get a clear, side-by-side look at what sets these channels apart.

Why RCS represents a strategic inflection point

The importance of RCS extends beyond aesthetics. It signals a fundamental evolution in how brands can construct end-to-end customer experiences. Instead of relying on SMS as a narrow, transactional alert mechanism, RCS enables deeper lifecycle interactions within the messaging thread itself.

RCS makes it possible for a wide range of customer interactions to happen inside one seamless, branded experience, including:

Appointment confirmations
Customer support conversations
Delivery and order updates
Ticketing interactions
Loyalty and rewards updates
Onboarding flows
Service requests

It also gives brands powerful tools to guide frictionless user journeys:

Rich cards for visual context
Suggested replies for smooth, multi-step guidance
One-tap actions for payments, confirmations, and deep links
Read receipts + engagement analytics to show not just what was delivered, but how it was consumed

This is not simply an improvement in messaging. It is the emergence of messaging as a true extension of a brand’s digital product—without requiring app installation, account creation, or additional friction.

Before you launch, make sure you’re set up for success—read our tips for getting approved for RCS fast.

How OneSignal fits into the new RCS ecosystem

As RCS becomes the new standard for mobile communication, brands face a new challenge: ensuring that the richness of the channel is accessible, orchestrated, and seamlessly integrated into broader lifecycle strategies. This is precisely where OneSignal offers differentiated value.

OneSignal’s platform sits at the intersection of mobile engagement, messaging intelligence, and cross-channel orchestration. Because RCS is inherently visual and interactive, it requires a platform capable of supporting rich composition, intuitive design tools, and intelligent automation. OneSignal’s visual editor allows teams to create RCS messages the same way they craft emails or push notifications—without needing technical knowledge or developer time.

These orchestration tools then layer intelligent logic on top of that creative flexibility. If a user has the mobile app installed, OneSignal can prioritize push notifications; if not, the system can automatically deliver a branded RCS message; if RCS is unavailable, it can fall back to SMS. This creates a fluid, adaptive engagement model that meets users on their most effective channel in real time.

Unlike developer-centric tools whose strengths lie in carrier connectivity, OneSignal is optimized for marketers and product teams who need visibility, design control, and lifecycle workflows.

And unlike promotional tools that focus narrowly on eCommerce and often come with higher per-send costs, OneSignal emphasizes mobile lifecycle engagement across industries—financial services, logistics, healthcare, gaming, media, hospitality, and beyond—with a cost structure designed for scaled, repeated communication rather than one-off promotional bursts.

The early proof points and what comes next

Brands already using RCS through OneSignal are seeing measurable improvements in engagement and user experience.

→ Hospitality businesses are delivering branded reservation confirmations with visual context and interactive modification options.

→ Logistics and delivery companies are sending route updates, pickup instructions, and package notices that are clear, trusted, and actionable.

→ Consumer services are driving significantly higher completion rates for confirmations, payments, service requests, and onboarding tasks simply by reducing user friction.

RCS gives your holiday campaigns a major upgrade. Check out how rich media and guided flows boost engagement.

These early signals foreshadow a broader shift in how mobile lifecycle engagement is executed. As richer formats continue to evolve—carousels, enhanced WebView experiences, conversational flows, and app-like interactions that can occur entirely within the messaging thread—brands will be able to execute complex user journeys in a channel that previously only supported plain text.

OneSignal is committed to building toward that future. Today’s RCS capabilities represent the beginning of a long-term investment in making mobile messaging richer, more intelligent, and more seamlessly connected to the rest of a brand’s engagement ecosystem. The foundational elements—a unified platform, a visual editor, deep channel orchestration, and integrated analytics—are already in place.

What follows is an expanding set of capabilities that will allow businesses to treat messaging as an extension of their product rather than a standalone communication silo.

Modern messaging starts here

RCS represents a categorical upgrade to business messaging and a meaningful opportunity for brands to modernize the way they communicate. With industry-wide alignment, rapidly expanding device support, and a significantly more intuitive user experience, the transition from SMS to RCS is poised to reshape mobile engagement over the next several years.

As organizations begin this shift, the question is not whether to adopt RCS, but how to deploy it effectively, sustainably, and as part of a broader lifecycle strategy. OneSignal’s platform provides the tools, intelligence, and orchestration framework needed to take full advantage of this new channel from day one.

RCS approval may be easier than you think…

RCS onboarding can be a maze of carrier rules and approvals, but we’ll walk you through every step. OneSignal streamlines brand verification and handles the carrier coordination so you can go live faster. The result? Richer, more trusted messaging with none of the headaches.

Get in touch with us to get the inside track!