RCS for Business (Google developer docs)

google‘s first-party landing documentation for rcs-business-messaging, the carrier-messaging channel it positions as the successor to SMS for brands. The first non-WhatsApp channel in this wiki.

What the docs claim

RCS for Business reaches customers on Android and iOS with capabilities SMS lacks: branded rich media, read receipts and engagement analytics, and a verified icon on the sender (sender-verification). Google’s framing is “the future of messaging for brands.”

How it is structured

Partners and developers build against the RCS Business Messaging APIs and a Developer Console. Carriers sit in the loop with their own Administration Console, where they manage agents and see message activity and billing — a structural difference from WhatsApp, where meta is the only gatekeeper.

Launching an agent runs one of two paths: Google-managed, where Google handles verification and approval, or carrier-managed, where the carrier does. See rcs-brand-verification for the process.

What this page does not establish

The landing docs do not detail carousels, typing indicators, device or carrier reach requirements, or a direct feature comparison against SMS. Those claims circulate widely in vendor marketing and are not sourced here — the wiki records only what the documentation states.

Tier

T1. First-party documentation from the platform operator. It is promotional in register (Google is selling a channel), so the capability list is a vendor claim; the structural facts — API, console, carrier role, two launch paths — are authoritative.

Related

rcs-business-messaging · rcs-brand-verification · sender-verification · google · synthesis