Transactional SMS carries information the customer needs or has asked for — one-time passwords, payment confirmations, delivery updates. Promotional SMS carries offers and marketing messages. They are treated differently by regulators and by carriers, and they are usually sent on separate sender IDs.
RCS is the successor to SMS. Where SMS is limited to plain text, RCS supports images, carousels, suggested replies and action buttons, and it shows your verified business name and logo on every message. It arrives in the same native inbox as SMS, so the customer does not need to install anything.
For SMS and RCS, no — both arrive in the handset's built-in messaging app. WhatsApp messaging requires the customer to have WhatsApp installed, which most already do.
On WhatsApp and RCS, yes — both are two-way channels and customers can reply directly in the conversation. SMS reply handling depends on the sender ID and route in use.
Yes. Marketing and promotional messages require the recipient's consent, and recipients must be able to opt out. Consent requirements vary by channel and jurisdiction, and we will confirm what applies to your use case before any campaign goes out.
