![\"Rich](\"http:\/\/mikevandermeulen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/rcs-multiservice.png\" "\\"Rich")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Most phone users have used the Short Message Service at one time or another. Nowadays, we just call it texting people. Then came the promise of MMS (Multi Media Messaging), or picture messaging. That never really took off in the same way as texting people, since the costs to send an MMS was prohibitive. Soon enough, these Over The Top (OTT) messaging platforms took over and started to eat the operator\u2019s proverbial lunch. Think WhatsApp, Google Hangouts, Apple Messaging, Line, and the list goes on.<\/span><\/p>\n So these services were about more than being able to send more than 160 characters at a time. You could send voice notes, or stickers, pictures and photos, or emoji. In some apps, you even have the ability to put some words in <\/span>bold<\/b>, or <\/span>italics<\/span><\/i>, to make things stand out. You could easily confirm when your message was received and\/or read by the other person. All of a sudden, the experience you had communicating with your friends was a whole lot richer.<\/span><\/p>\n And there you have it – the option of your standard SMS, but without having to have a plan or allowance for these services. They all came out from your data limit\u2026. And most smartphones have a data allowance. That\u2019s why they\u2019re able to be smarter, right? They\u2019re more connected.<\/span><\/p>\n As mentioned earlier, although these services are platforms, they don\u2019t connect to each other. You can\u2019t use WhatsApp if your friend swears by Signal. Your best friend treats any blue messages like second class citizens. All in all, interconnection is a problem, and no app manufacturer has a vested interest in allowing other platforms to have access.<\/span><\/p>\n Yep. But don\u2019t worry the GSMA (Global System Mobile Association) has an answer. They\u2019ll make these <\/span>Rich Communications<\/span><\/i> that you\u2019re so used to, and like into a standard. In fact, they already have. Some time ago. In 2007, the GSMA even went so far as to come up with some branding, and named the initiative <\/span>Joyn<\/span><\/a>. Snazzy, right? And yet, it didn\u2019t take off. In order to take advantage of this new system, a couple of things had to be in place. \u00a0RCS has to be baked into every phone wanting to use the service. Then not only would it take new phones that support these Rich Communication Services, RCS, but the network operators themselves have to install equipment. And for the longest amount of time, there was no incentive for them to do so. A picture message was prohibitively expensive to send, and that equalled profit. Then the operators started giving away text messages for free as part of a tariff, so how would they monetise RCS?<\/span><\/p>\n All the while, WhatsApp, iMessage, and Skype continued to grow. These effective walled-gardens still gave people a way to enjoy RCS and nobody really cared about being able to have the one app to talk to everyone. If you really needed to, you could fall back to sending a text, right?<\/span><\/p>\n Right. Plain old text. Then a couple of years ago, Google bought a company called <\/span>Jibe<\/span><\/a>, who specialised in RCS. Maybe the hope was that all Google phones would pioneer the service and other manufacturers would follow suit\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n Because after years in the mobile tech wilderness, things are starting to roll – kind of. Google is now building out RCS inside their Messages app. At the same time, in a move that will surprise literally nobody, Messages will likely go through a slight rebranding to <\/span>Android Messenger<\/span><\/a>. We haven\u2019t seen it over here yet, so time will tell. However, the kicker is that both the networks and the handset manufacturers, who are not always the fastest at agreeing to work together.<\/span><\/p>\n Yes, we do have a standard. Yes, the GSMA has confirmed it, and all we\u2019re waiting for it everyone else to get their act together. But this is a slow process. AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile have all signed up and implemented RCS on their network.<\/span><\/p>\n In a word, implementation. RCS has been rolled out in Canada, and it works normally. But AT&T implementation will only allow on-net calls and the \u2018RIch Communication\u2019 of RCS if you use AT&T\u2019s app. The good news is that things aren\u2019t the same over in Europe, if not quite the U.K. Vodafone Italia and TIM in <\/span>Italy<\/span><\/a> have RCS rolled out. Even Russia has a network, MTS, that\u2019s had RCS since 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n Maybe, but probably not. Handset makers like Samsung are implementing RCS, but in their own fashion. We don\u2019t know if Samsung handsets will have Samsung specific profiles that \u2018enhance\u2019 their usefulness when they talk to other Samsung handsets. We don\u2019t know if the U.K networks will want to put in the time and effort. Why would they? How would it affect their bottom line? People who want to talk to each other can already to do, using the apps above? Sure, it doesn\u2019t provide that full ubiquity and ease of use that a default app will have. Yes, I\u2019m looking at you, iMessage. But anyone who wants to be able to communicate with emoji, picture messages, gifs, voice notes, attachments, pictures, memes and whatever you can think of, can still do so. All in their own little ecosystem. So the data is being used one way or another. However, I can\u2019t see the networks deciding any time soon that having one messaging protocol to rule them all is financially worth while.<\/span><\/p>\n I mean, it\u2019s not like off-network calls and text messaging made mobile take-off way back when, is it?<\/span><\/p>\n The post Rich Communication Services: why we should care about RCS.<\/a> is original content from Coolsmartphone<\/a>. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most phone users have used the Short Message Service at one time or another. Nowadays, we just call it texting … So?<\/b><\/h2>\n
That\u2019s depressing.<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Rich](\"http:\/\/mikevandermeulen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/joyn.png\" "\\"Rich")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s next?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Wait, why do you keep saying was?<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Rich](\"http:\/\/mikevandermeulen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/RCS_overview.png\" "\\"Rich")
<\/p>\nSo all great! What\u2019s the problem?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Does that mean we aren\u2019t going to get RCS?<\/strong><\/h2>\n