Quick answer. Rich Communication Services (RCS) is the formal name for the GSMA’s open messaging standard that modernizes SMS and MMS. It brings app-like features — high-resolution media, branded and verified sender identity, interactive buttons, read receipts, and typing indicators — into the phone’s default messaging app, with no separate download. It’s the technology behind “RCS messaging” and “RCS Business Messaging.”
Think of Rich Communication Services as the upgrade that finally lets text messaging do what people expect a modern messenger to do, while keeping the universal reach of the native inbox.