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RCS Business Messaging

RCS (Rich Communication Services) is the carrier-native upgrade to SMS. Instead of a plain grey text bubble, your messages arrive in the recipient's default messages app from a branded, verified sender — with your business name, logo and a verified checkmark — and can include rich cards, images and video, suggested replies, and suggested actions like "Call", "Open link" or "Share location". RCS works in the native messaging app on Android (and on supported iPhones). There is no automatic fallback to SMS: if a recipient's device or carrier doesn't support RCS, the message fails with rcs_not_reachable and you decide whether to reach that contact on another channel.

Compared with SMS, RCS gives you:

  • A branded, verified sender — your business name and logo instead of a short code or number.
  • Rich content — images, video, audio and documents, delivered inside styled cards.
  • Interactivity — suggested replies and suggested actions (open a URL, dial a number, share a location) that render as tappable chips.
  • Rich carousels — 2–10 scrollable cards in a single message.
  • Delivery signals — read receipts and typing indicators, so conversations feel real-time.
How to get access

RCS on SendSeven is available in Germany only, to accounts whose billing country is DE.

You request your own RCS agent on the RCS request page in the app (Settings > Channels > RCS) or with the agent request endpoints. The SendSeven team then verifies your business with Google and the carriers, and sets up and manages the RCS channel for you. If your billing country is not Germany but you have a reason to message recipients in Germany, contact [email protected]; we can grant an exception.

Eligibility at a glance​

RequirementDetail
RegionGermany only
EligibilityThe billing account's billing country is DE, or SendSeven has granted an exception
Business statusMust be a verified business (checked during the agent review)
PricingPrepaid RCS wallet, list prices per unit; see GET /rcs/agent-requests/pricing-overview
OnboardingAgent request in the app or API; channel setup by the SendSeven team

What eligibility gates​

An account that is not eligible can read everything (channels, prices, the pricing overview, wallet balance, statements), but these calls answer 403 with code rcs_not_available:

AreaRefused when not eligible
Agent requestsCreate, edit, file upload and submit (cancel is always allowed)
RCS walletPOST /billing/rcs-wallet/topups, GET /billing/rcs-wallet/bank-transfer, POST /billing/rcs-wallet/auto-topup/setup-intent, and PUT /billing/rcs-wallet/auto-topup with "enabled": true (turning it off is always allowed)
CampaignsPOST /campaigns and PUT /campaigns/{campaign_id} when the campaign targets RCS (through selected_channel_ids, channel_filter or RCS content in channel_content), POST /campaigns/{campaign_id}/send, POST /campaigns/{campaign_id}/schedule, POST /campaigns/{campaign_id}/resume for a campaign that has not started sending yet, GET /campaigns/{campaign_id}/estimate-cost when the estimate includes RCS, and GET /campaigns/{campaign_id}/rcs-estimate when it has RCS recipients

Not gated: charging of delivered messages, sends already in flight, pausing, cancelling and resuming a campaign that is already sending, and messages sent through an existing RCS channel.

A campaign scheduled on RCS for an account that is not eligible is not sent at its scheduled time. It moves to status paused with throttle_reason rcs_not_available, and the creator is notified. It does not resume by itself. To send it, remove RCS from its targeting with PUT /campaigns/{campaign_id} (allowed while no recipients have been prepared yet), then call POST /campaigns/{campaign_id}/resume.

Capabilities​

Once your RCS channel is live, it behaves like any other channel in the unified API, with a rich feature set:

FeatureSupportedNotes
TextYesUp to 3,072 characters — longer text auto-splits into ordered messages
ImagesYesDelivered in a rich card
VideoYesDelivered in a rich card
AudioYesDelivered in a rich card
DocumentsYesPDF, in a rich card
Rich cardsYesTitle + description + media + suggestions
CarouselsYes2–10 scrollable cards (campaigns)
Suggested repliesYesTappable reply chips
Suggested actionsYesOpen URL / dial number / share location
ReactionsYesEmoji reactions
Read receiptsYes
Typing indicatorsYes

Suggestion budget: Suggested replies and suggested actions share a single budget of up to 11 suggestions per message, and a maximum of 4 suggestions per card. Design your chips within that limit so nothing is dropped.

For the full side-by-side comparison of message types, length limits and media size caps across every channel, see Channel Capabilities & Limits.

Delivery model​

RCS is more flexible than WhatsApp — there is no template approval process and no 24-hour messaging window. Once a contact is opted in, you can message them at any time.

That flexibility comes with responsibility:

  • Consent and opt-out are the sender's responsibility. You must have a lawful basis to message each recipient and honour opt-out/STOP requests promptly. German consumer-protection law (UWG) applies — treat RCS like SMS marketing, not like a channel with a platform-enforced window.
  • Reachability depends on the recipient's device and carrier. RCS is only delivered when the recipient's device and mobile network support it. Where RCS isn't available, the message is marked failed with error_code rcs_not_reachable and is not charged. SendSeven does not fall back to SMS automatically; send to that contact on SMS or another channel yourself if you want to reach them.
  • RCS keys on the phone number in E.164 format (+491701234567), the same identity as SMS and WhatsApp. Conversations still stay per-channel, so an RCS thread is distinct from that contact's SMS or WhatsApp thread even though the phone number matches.
Channel propertyRCS
Template approvalNot required
24-hour windowNone — send anytime to opted-in contacts
Contact identityPhone number (E.164)
Consent / opt-outSender's responsibility (UWG applies)
FallbackNone automatic -- unreachable recipients fail with rcs_not_reachable

Required Scopes​

ScopePurpose
channels:readView channel details and capabilities
messages:createSend messages through the channel

RCS channels are set up and managed by SendSeven, so you don't create or configure them via the API. Customer writes to RCS channels answer 403 with code rcs_managed_by_sendseven: POST /channels with type rcs, a PUT /channels/{channel_id} that changes identifier or config on an RCS channel (renaming and is_active still work), and every RCS-specific channel write (connect, credentials, testers, launch state, agent profile). The check runs after the scope check and before the request body is validated.

Sending messages on RCS​

After our team has provisioned your RCS channel, sending is identical to any other channel: use the same unified messaging endpoints and pass your RCS channel_id. There is nothing RCS-specific in the request shape.

curl -X POST "https://api.sendseven.com/api/v1/messages" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer s7_api_a1b2c3d4e5f6789012345678abcdef00" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "contact_id": "contact_xyz789",
    "channel_id": "ch_rcs_001",
    "text": "Your order has shipped! Track it here: https://track.example.com/12345",
    "message_type": "text"
  }'

From there, reach for the shared messaging guides that work on RCS:

Rich cards with suggested replies or actions, and carousels of 2–10 cards, are sent from RCS campaigns. The one-to-one endpoints POST /messages/send/interactive and POST /messages/send/carousel do not support RCS and return 400.

tip

Unlike WhatsApp, RCS has no messaging window and no approved-template requirement — you can send free-form rich messages to opted-in contacts anytime. Make sure you have consent and honour opt-outs, since that responsibility sits with you, not the platform.

Billing​

RCS messages are paid from a prepaid RCS wallet on your billing account, shared by all its workspaces. The wallet is separate from your plan's message pool. On conversational and non-conversational agents, each RCS message also counts as a SendSeven message on your plan (included pool first, then your plan's message price), like any other channel. Newsletter agents have no SendSeven message fee.

  • You top up the wallet by card or bank transfer. The first top-up is at least 100 EUR net and activates the wallet; unused balance is refundable.

  • Each send reserves its expected charge. You are charged only when the carrier confirms delivery; messages that expire undelivered are free.

  • Delivered messages are charged per unit, depending on the agent type: non-conversational agents charge basic (plain text up to 160 characters, no suggestions) or single (any other message); conversational agents charge the same units and turn an exchange into a session when the recipient replies; newsletter agents charge once per recipient per month (mau: EUR 0.19 net by default, all newsletters to that recipient in the month included). Messages from your contacts are free.

  • Per-message RCS sends (conversational and non-conversational agents) also carry your plan's SendSeven message fee and use the included message pool. Newsletter agents carry no SendSeven message fee.

  • Current prices, fees, the welcome offer and a WhatsApp reference price for the in-app calculator: GET /rcs/agent-requests/pricing-overview (see Pricing overview).

  • When the balance is too low, direct sends are refused with insufficient_rcs_balance (402 on POST /messages for API tokens) and campaigns pause, then continue automatically after a top-up.

  • Check what a campaign will cost before sending with GET /campaigns/{campaign_id}/rcs-estimate.

  • Your own RCS agent is requested with an agent request, which starts as an editable draft; the SendSeven team submits it for verification once the request is complete and the first top-up is credited. Besides the brand profile, logo, banner and commercial register extract, it needs a signed brand authorization letter, which you upload once per billing account. The SendSeven team writes the compliance texts and newsletter details for the carrier review.

See RCS Wallet & Billing for the wallet endpoints, prices, warnings, automatic top-up and all RCS billing error codes.

Next Steps​