US billing types
In the United States, RCS messages are billed as one of two types:
- Rich messages
- Rich media messages
Message classification depends on whether the content is text-only with basic actions or contains media and advanced suggested actions.
Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Rich media message | An application-to-person (A2P) or person-to-application (P2A) message that:
A rich media message can include suggested replies and suggested actions, such as Dial phone and Open URL (Browser). If the message contains any multimedia content, it is automatically classified as a rich media message. Note P2A billing: If a P2A message contains a file, it is billed as a rich media MO message. |
| Rich message | An application-to-person (A2P) or person-to-application (P2A) message that:
A rich card that only contains a title and/or description is not considered a text-only rich message. Note Text-only P2A messages are charged in 160-byte segments. |
Some carriers charge for P2A messages. Text-only P2A messages are billed in segments, following the same segmentation rules applied to A2P messages.
The following message types are billed as P2A:
- Real MO messages: Sent when an end user manually sends a message directly to an agent.
- Quick reply MO messages: Sent when an end user selects a Reply suggestion button.
- Request location MO messages: Sent when an end user shares their location after selecting a Request location suggestion button.
If a P2A message contains a file, it is billed as a rich-media MO message.
Tracking US billing with webhooks
For messages in the United States, the trafficType field returns two additional values that map to the US billing types defined above:
| trafficType value | Billing type |
|---|---|
RICH | Rich message |
RICH_MEDIA | Rich media message |
Segment counts for rich messages: Rich messages in the US bill in 160-byte segments, and delivery reports and inbound webhooks report how many segments each message used.
| Field | Webhook | Description |
|---|---|---|
messageCount | Receive RCS delivery reports | Number of 160-byte segments the outbound Rich MT message used. Found at results[].messageCount in the delivery report payload. |
rcsCount | Receive RCS inbound message | Number of segments an inbound Rich MO message contains. Found at results[].rcsCount. Can be greater than 1 for Rich messages in the US. |
US Interactive Session
US Interactive Session is a session-based billing model for conversational RCS agents in the United States. This model uses different criteria than global A2P and P2A conversation billing.
An interactive session is triggered when all of the following criteria are met:
- 4 messages are exchanged within a 24-hour period
- At least 2 person-to-application (P2A) messages
- At least 1 application-to-person (A2P) message
- Messages can occur in any order
When these criteria are met, a 24-hour free messaging window opens, starting from the first of those 4 messages. All messages within this 24-hour window are part of the interactive session and are not charged individually.
If the session criteria are not met (for example, the business sends an A2P message but receives no reply), messages are charged individually as Rich messages or Rich media messages, depending on the message content.
Key differences from global billing:
| Global model | US Interactive Session |
|---|---|
| Directional (A2P or P2A conversation) | Non-directional (criteria-based: 4 messages with 2 P2A + 1 A2P) |
| Session starts from reply message | Session starts from the first message in the 4-message sequence |
| Available for conversational agents globally | Available only for conversational agents in the United States |
Interactive sessions apply only to conversational agents. Non-conversational agents use message-based billing (Rich message or Rich media message) regardless of message volume or timing.