Quick answer. RCS gives you far richer events than SMS. The common ones are: message delivered, message read (“seen”), inbound user message (free-form text or media), suggestion response (a tap on a suggested reply/action, identified by postbackData), is-typing, delivery failure / SMS fallback, and subscribe/unsubscribe (opt-in/opt-out). These arrive at your webhook and power both two-way conversations and accurate engagement analytics.
A representative set of event types you’ll handle:
- DELIVERED — the message reached the user’s device.
- READ / seen — the user opened/viewed the message.
- Inbound message — the user sent free-form text or media to your agent.
- Suggestion response — the user tapped a suggested reply or action; carries postbackData.
- IS_TYPING — the user is composing a reply.
- Failed / fallback — RCS delivery failed or the recipient wasn’t RCS-capable (message handled via SMS/MMS).
- Subscribe / unsubscribe — opt-in or opt-out signals for consent management.