The RCS standard (Rich Communication Services) becomes the successor of SMS, the technology that almost nobody uses since WhatsApp became popular. Google has spent years trying to promote these services enriched communication Android, and today we woke up to the news that the media has finally come to at least one important application: Google Messenger.
This new generation offers enhanced messaging features that go beyond simple text messages and voice calls. Consumers could instantly chat, share files across different devices and networks and transmit video. That is, they do things like iMessage, WhatsApp and Telegram, but directly through your operator and not a third party app.
The evolution of prehistoric SMS and MMS
The SMS protocol was created long before the telephone operator’s offer even think of Internet data. Is so outdated that almost nobody uses, all modern messaging applications have far exceeded and that is where the RCS standard comes into action.But why has it taken so long?
The problem: operator will need your support, your device supports it and have an application installed that supports it. The RCS has tried to take off in several areas but has not succeeded. Each operator was on his own to implement its own profile causing compatibility issues between an application and another one device to another and one operator and another.
Google came to the rescue and offered the solution with a universal profile : Jibe. It will work with any operator as current SMS and MMS, and miso time each operator manages its own service and can charge for it. The RCS messages never go through Google servers only by our operator.
If I already have WhatsApp for me I want this?
Although it is a very valid argument, the fact that there are many messaging platforms already established that make everything offered by the RCS and more standard, does not mean that this is completely useless and unnecessary.
Facebook Messenger, Hangouts, Allo, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. all are excellent choices and innovate at a much faster than operators step, if anything is clear over time that has taken them to begin to realize the RCS, but the latter has a great advantage: it is tied to your phone number and you do not need to install anything or create an account to use it.
Still missing
So far the RCS standard is only implemented in Android and few operators support it, are just beginning to try it in the United States as a free service. However, that Google SMS application and include it , is a big step forward. Google is already associated with many carriers and manufacturers to offer a client that is interoperable across any platform.
Google Messenger could come in the not too distant future Windows or iOS, and if the other operators GSMA enables support standard could finish off. However, if operators want to compete with WhatsApp and iMessage cannot start collecting from the beginning, nobody will prefer about something completely free and probably better.
The RCS exists for a simple reason: operators get nothing besides profit data you consume every time you use apps like WhatsApp, it is not surprising that want to change this. But as each company seeks its own advantage, it has taken them years to find a neutral point, so it ended up being Google who offers the best solution.
You may already be a little late to triumph and users take over the solutions to those already adjusted, but you cannot underestimate the power of simplicity of using only your phone number to communicate. Anyway, it is an improvement to a protocol that increasingly feels more and more inconsistent in relation to modern technologies.