According to David O'Byrne, the RCS lead
at the GSMA, the organisation at the wheel of the standard said: "Rich Communications Services or RCS is an upgrade to traditional SMS messaging."
He added that RCS enables consumers to use familiar messaging features such as chat, group chat, file transfer, stickers, audio messaging, video share, enriched calling, location share and live sketching all from the smartphone itself without having to download any apps.
RCS hopes to be as smooth as making a call or writing an SMS without the need for any additional apps. RCS also utilises data connectivity instead.
At the moment RCS has 137 million users which expected to increase to 350 million by 2018.
What makes RCS unique compared to iMessage and Whatsapp is chatbots, plugins and other cool uses according to O'Byrne.
O'Byrne said, "This will allow customers to make restaurant reservations, book train tickets or make retail purchases entirely via messaging without human interaction".
The transactions are time-stamped, authenticating purchases giving the consumer peace of mind. Numerous purchases can also be joined into one interface.
Mobile networks will have the chance "to increase engagement with their subscribers while brands will be able to maintain a direct line to their customers and improve business interactions".
