Getting Started

Before you can start using RCS for business communications, you must first go through the official approval procedure.

This section details the information you will need to provide to get started with RCS. Once approved by RBMs you will be able to start sending RCS messages straight away.

Registration

The first step is to submit a registration requested using the Service Qualification Form. In addition, you will need to provide the following information for this step:

• Company name**
• Recipient country or countries
• Company description** (maximum 100 characters)
• Brand color hex codes** (minimum 4.5:1 contrast ratio relative to white)
• Company website**
• Customer-facing email address**
• Customer-facing phone number**
• Privacy Policy URL**
• Terms of Service URL**
• Company logo** (224x224px - JPEG - maximum 30KB)   
• Hero image** (1440x448px - JPEG - maximum 120 KB)  
• Official/legal company name
• Point of contact details for RCS (first name, last name, job title, email)
• Mobile phone number for testing
• Labels for phone, website, and email (under Info tab) 

**This information is displayed to customers in RCS conversations

You will receive your sender registration details when registration is complete, this usually takes 2 to 3 business days.

Once Infobip receives your registration request, along with the required collateral, Infobip will submit a formal registration request with our partnered RBM providers.

The RBM will send out an email notification of successful registration and you can then test the connection in the web interface or using the Infobip API. If and when you are happy with the connection, you can proceed to the verification phase after testing.

Test Connection

Once your agent is registered with the RBM provider, the next step is to test the connection before proceeding to verification.

To test and receive RCS messages you'll have to turn on chat features in messages on your Android device(s) first. Make sure the device uses the mobile number belonging to the carrier you wish to test messages on.

You'll then need to select the appropriate method of allowing your number to receive messages during any testing phases.

• Safelisting numbers
• Google tester invite

Safelisting numbers is done only for the testing phase. When you are done with testing the service and your use case is approved by an RBM provider you can launch your agent.

When using Google, after Infobip assigns your number to your agent, you will be invited as a tester of the service. You will receive a message invite to become a tester of your agent.

When you open the message, it will ask you to become a tester. Hit the Make me a tester option and you will receive message confirmation.

In this phase, only numbers that are safelisted (assigned to your agent) can receive RCS messages. 

Verification

Infobip will request verification with RBM providers at your request after you have successfully tested your registered RCS sender and connection. This will then be passed back over to RBM providers for verification.

Some country's MNOs require additional checks and permissions in addition to RBM provider verification to use their services. Check with your dedicated account manager for more information about your country's MNO requirements.

To prepare for launch, you will need to prepare your launch campaign ready for approval by RBM providers.

Launch

Once you have been verified by RBM providers you are ready to submit a launch request using the Launch Request Form. After this step you will able to send any amount of RCS campaigns out to your contacts without the need to invite them as testers or safelist their numbers.

You will need to provide the following for this step:

• Proof of opt-in acquisitions – You must provide the source of your opt-in and show that it is from your agent, or you will not be approved. If it is via a website or app, please provide the relevant URLs.
• Actions which trigger MT messages (e.g., purchases, delivery notifications, etc.) – At which point are messages first sent to users, and are they sent in a time-relative consistent manner.
• Interaction types – Primary and secondary interactions expected to occur between your agent and end-users. I.e. expected occurrences and possible occurrences.
• Proof of opt-out action – You must provide the steps which occur if a user requests to opt out of receiving further communication. If a user responds with STOP, you must confirm that they will not receive any further messages unless they opt back in. Agents cannot send any further messages after this.

• Brand parent company legal name
• Brand parent company website
• Details if your RCS communications are expected to spike at certain time intervals
• Details of how many users are expected to be messaged
• Details of how many messages are expected to be sent per month, plus the number of users and interactions per campaign
• Details of campaign start date

Once approved for launch, you are ready to send messages to all your customers without any additional testing or clearance.