As marketers seek to improve and expand their customer communication, traditional SMS messaging is quickly giving way to the more dynamic, feature-rich Application to Person (A2P) platform. While these messages are delivered in much the same way, they are significantly more interactive, personal and customizable than a standard text message alone. As the industry expands, it’s become integrated with other technologies as well, chief among them Artificial Intelligence, or AI.
A Brief Look at the History of A2P
Before its use became more widespread, A2P was a platform primarily reserved as a billing mechanism for recurring payments, or to facilitate one-off services, such as voting. While companies used the services for marketing initiatives to some extent, it was primarily reserved for alerts or to deliver simple content.
Yet, as our economy continues to lean toward becoming more app-based than ever before, it comes as no surprise that mobile messaging is following this trend. Now, customers don’t only expect to receive mobile alerts from the companies and brands they follow and patronize. In addition, they also desire that those messages be as comprehensive, relevant and content-rich as possible. Thus, A2P has proliferated the mobile app industry and helped drive the change SMS to RCS, or Rich Communication Services (RCS).
The Rise of RCS Messaging
According to a recent industry study, RCS messaging revenues are anticipated to reach $9 billion by 2022. In 2018, revenue is expected to reach $126 million. How will the Google-backed technology see such a climb? The answer lies in the type of content delivery it enables, and how this service aligns with an increasingly discerning customer base.
In short, RCS messaging allows companies to not only send text messages to their customers, but also perform file transfers, video shares and more. While standard SMS messaging and mobile text alerts are still prevalent within the B2B sphere for the convenience and professionalism they afford, B2C companies are steadily transitioning to an RCS platform to deliver rich media unsupported by an SMS solution. Within the entire RCS sector, the study predicted that A2P applications will comprise more than 90% of overall traffic.
Rolling Out a New Mobile Messaging Platform
To ease the transition and encourage user adoption, it is predicted that mobile carriers will begin enabling RCS messaging at an affordable and scalable rate, charging a simple amount per-event or delivered message and keeping the overarching business and pricing models attractive. Taking these proactive steps can help make the switch from SMS to RCS as seamless and painless as possible for both senders and the carriers that support them.
As operators continue to research the revenue potential from such a switch, it’s becoming apparent that while implementing this technology may cost more at the onset, the overall payout could be substantial and as such, it’s wise to work with users to promote and facilitate the change. While earlier pushes to make RCS a Peer-to-Peer messaging platform didn’t pan out as hoped, when used in the B2C realm and specifically as an A2P solution, there is greater opportunity for success stemming from advertising profit.
To reap the reward without overwhelming the networks, the study recommended that mobile carriers develop and implement a fair usage policy to ensure that one text-happy business doesn’t crowd and overwhelm the server to capacity.
Integrating AI into A2P Messaging
As mobile messaging becomes more interactive and intuitive thanks to A2P technology, customers will look toward the platform as a sort of conversational community, wherein they can interact directly with brands, ask questions, complete surveys, pay bills, play games, and more — all from within the same app. As such, to keep up with such an influx of data, it’s expected that B2C companies will begin integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology into their A2P solutions.
These automated responses will mimic those performed by a real person, yet can be performed at a much quicker pace and with greater accuracy. Consider, for instance, if a client received an A2P message inquiring if he or she was satisfied with her recent purchase. The client responds back with a question concerning installation and asks for follow-up support. If even one day passes without a response, that company could be looking at negative feedback at best or the loss of business at worse. On the other hand, an AI-driven response could recognize keywords or phrases in the inquiry and lead that customer to an immediate resolution.
Moving Forward: Making Use of the Platform Now
Until AI capability is fully built into these solutions, forward-thinking B2C companies looking to expand their customer outreach capabilities and improve their brand image can still leverage A2P messaging across the RCS platform. The key lies in keeping the content interactive and media-rich, prompting further discovery and impressing recipients at the same time.