Quick answer. Yes — using both is the recommended approach, and it's how RCS is designed to work. You send RCS-first to everyone, and any recipient who can't receive it (wrong device, no RCS support, no data) automatically gets the message as SMS or MMS instead. This gives you RCS's richness and engagement where it's available and SMS's universal reach everywhere else, in a single send, with no separate campaigns to manage. A good platform handles the capability check and fallback for you.
This "RCS-first with SMS fallback" model is the practical answer to almost every "RCS or SMS?" question: you don't choose, you layer. SimplyRCS does the capability detection and fallback automatically, so one message reaches the whole list at the best experience each device supports.
Key facts
- RCS-first with automatic SMS/MMS fallback delivers richness where possible and universal reach everywhere.
- One send, no duplicate campaigns — the platform handles capability detection and fallback.