What is an RCS agent?
An RCS agent is the sender identity a business messages from in RCS Business Messaging (RBM). It is what the customer sees at the top of the conversation in their phone's built-in messages app: a display name of up to 40 characters, a round logo, a banner image, a brand colour, a description of up to 100 characters and contact options such as phone numbers, websites and email — plus a verified checkmark once the brand has confirmed the agent. Technically the agent is also the API identity: messages are sent with its agentId, and replies and receipts come back to its webhook.
An agent goes through a lifecycle before it can reach real customers. It is created with a hosting region (North America, Europe or Asia Pacific) and a use case — OTP, TRANSACTIONAL, PROMOTIONAL or MULTI_USE — and while unlaunched it can message only test devices that have accepted an invitation. Launch then needs two approvals: brand verification, in which an authorised person at the brand confirms the agent's details and the partner's right to manage it, and launch approval on each carrier network, given by Google for Google-managed carriers or by the carrier itself for carrier-managed ones.
Compared with a WhatsApp display name, which Meta reviews once for the whole platform, an RCS agent is approved network by network. In India, RCS business messaging follows DLT rules, so launch asks for the brand's DLT principal entity details; Google's India policy has not offered multi-use agents and restricts when business-initiated messages may be sent, so check the current RBM India guidelines before planning send times. Unlike an SMS sender ID — a bare text label — the agent is a full profile the user can open. The channel itself, with its rich cards and carousels, is covered on the RCS Business Messaging page.
Key takeaways
- An RCS agent is the branded sender identity in RCS Business Messaging: name, logo, banner, colour, description and contact details.
- Before launch an agent reaches only registered test devices; it then needs brand verification and approval on each carrier.
- Launch is per carrier, so one agent can be LAUNCHED on one network while still PENDING or REJECTED on another.
- The hosting region is fixed when the agent is created, and the use case is fixed once it is submitted for launch.
- In India, agent launch is tied to the brand's DLT registration, and Google's India rules have not offered multi-use agents.
Walk an RCS agent from draft to launch
- Created to Testing: add testers
- Testing to Brand verification: submit
- Brand verification to Carrier review: verified
- Carrier review to Launched: approved
- Carrier review to Rejected: rejected
- Rejected to Carrier review: resubmit
- Launched to Suspended: policy issue
- Suspended to Launched: reinstated
- Created
- Testing
- Brand verification
- Carrier review
- Launched
Step 5 of 5 · end of walk
Launched
LAUNCHED: the agent reaches RCS users on that network, with the verified checkmark beside its name.
Arrived from Carrier review via approved.
Can move to
- Suspended · policy issue
Happy path, step 5 of 5: Launched (via approved). LAUNCHED: the agent reaches RCS users on that network, with the verified checkmark beside its name.
Why does an RCS agent matter?
The agent is the trust layer of RCS: a verified name, logo and colour are what separate a bank's message from a lookalike SMS. Getting it right first time matters because several choices are hard to undo — the region cannot change after creation, the use case is locked once the agent is submitted, and every carrier reviews it separately. A rejected or half-launched agent quietly limits reach, so the agent's launch state per carrier belongs on the same dashboard as delivery rates and the SMS fallback it triggers.
How does an RCS agent work?
Create the agent
Set the display name, a 224 × 224 px logo (up to 50 KB), a 1440 × 448 px banner (up to 200 KB), a brand colour with at least 4.5:1 contrast against white, privacy and terms URLs, the hosting region and the use case.
Test on invited devices
An unlaunched agent can message only registered test devices whose owners accepted the invitation. Check how the logo crops into a circle, how cards render and what happens when a number cannot receive RCS.
Submit for launch with brand verification
Pick the carriers and answer the launch questionnaire: how users opt in, what triggers messages, how they opt out. Name a brand contact — an individual's email, not a distribution list — who confirms the agent by email.
Carrier review, network by network
Each carrier's launch moves from PENDING to LAUNCHED or REJECTED independently. Carrier-managed networks may need a direct agreement, and Google-managed carriers in a country require a launch on at least one carrier-managed network there first.
Operate and watch the state
A live agent can be SUSPENDED over policy problems or complaints. Poll the launch state through the Business Communications API, alert on any change and keep the agent's contact details current.
An RCS agent in code
{"displayName": "Example Store","rcsBusinessMessagingAgent": {"description": "Order updates and delivery alerts from Example Store","logoUri": "https://example.com/rcs/logo-224.png","heroUri": "https://example.com/rcs/banner-1440x448.jpg","color": "#0B3D91","phoneNumbers": [{ "phoneNumber": { "number": "+918000000000" }, "label": "Call support" }],"emails": [{ "address": "support@example.com", "label": "Email us" }],"websites": [{ "uri": "https://example.com", "label": "Website" }],"privacy": { "uri": "https://example.com/privacy", "label": "Privacy policy" },"termsConditions": { "uri": "https://example.com/terms", "label": "Terms" },"agentUseCase": "TRANSACTIONAL","hostingRegion": "ASIA_PACIFIC","billingConfig": { "billingCategory": "NON_CONVERSATIONAL" }}}
The Business Communications API agent resource. agentUseCase and hostingRegion are the two choices you cannot casually change later.
Key facts at a glance
An RCS agent: key facts and limits
- Display name
- Up to 40 characters
- Description
- Up to 100 characters
- Logo
- 224 × 224 px, up to 50 KB, shown as a circle
- Banner (hero image)
- 1440 × 448 px, up to 200 KB
- Brand colour
- At least 4.5:1 contrast against white
- Use cases
- OTP, Transactional, Promotional, Multi-use (not in India)
- Hosting regions
- North America, Europe, Asia Pacific — fixed at creation
- Launch states
- UNLAUNCHED, PENDING, LAUNCHED, REJECTED, SUSPENDED
Example: Three agents for an insurer in Pune
A Pune insurer wants RCS for login codes, policy documents and new-plan offers. Because multi-use agents are not available in India and each use case has its own content rules, it creates three agents under one brand — an OTP agent, a transactional agent for renewals and documents, and a promotional agent — each linked to the insurer's DLT principal entity and using the same logo customers know from its app and WhatsApp profile. After testing on staff phones, it submits all three with one brand contact, the head of digital, who confirms by email. Two carriers approve first; a third asks for screenshots of the opt-in screen, so the promotional agent stays PENDING there for longer and its messages to that network's users go out as SMS in the meantime.
Common wrong turns
Common mistakes with an RCS agent
One agent for every kind of message
An OTP agent cannot carry offers, and a promotional agent cannot carry OTPs or time-sensitive transaction details. In India, where multi-use is not offered, plan separate agents per use case from the start.
Picking the region without thinking
The hosting region cannot be changed once the agent exists. Choose the region that matches where your users and your webhook servers are before you create it.
A thin launch questionnaire
Reviewers check how people opt in, what triggers each message and how they opt out. Vague answers and missing screenshots are a common reason for REJECTED; describe the real flow and attach evidence.
Using a shared inbox as the brand contact
Google asks for an individual brand representative's email, not a distribution list. A group address or a contact at the agency rather than the brand stalls verification.
Assuming LAUNCHED means everywhere
Launch is per carrier, and RCS also needs a capable phone and app. Check the state per network and keep SMS as the fallback channel for users the agent cannot reach.
RCS Agent FAQs
How long does it take to launch an RCS agent?+
Is an RCS agent the same as an SMS sender ID?+
Can I change an RCS agent's use case after launch?+
How is an RCS agent different from a WhatsApp display name?+
Why can my RCS agent reach only some of my customers?+
Good practice
Best practices for an RCS agent
- Use the exact brand name and logo customers already see in your app, on your website and in your WhatsApp display name.
- Preview the logo as a circle on light and dark backgrounds before you upload it.
- Record launch state per carrier in your own database and alert on any move to REJECTED or SUSPENDED.
- Keep the support number and URLs on the agent current — they appear on the agent's info screen.