Infobip Partners with Google on Rich Communications Services Rollout for Operators in Brazil

São Paulo, Brazil and London, UK: September 2020 – Infobip, a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected customer experiences across all stages of the customer journey announces it has become an official partner of Google Brazil to help provision Rich Business Messaging (RBM) for operators in the market.

RBM is a new platform for messaging that enables operators to upgrade the SMS experience from basic text to a more dynamic experience provided by the Rich Communications Services (RCS) protocol, similar to what people get from chat apps. It allows operators to compete for a share of revenues in the lucrative marketing, customer care and mobile advertising industries while at the same time improving customer experience for their subscribers.

Made possible in Brazil through this joint effort between Google and the Brazilian mobile operators, RCS is available through the four largest operators in the country and has an active base of millions of users, which grows every day with the support of the industry.

RCS allows businesses to include branding, color, images, documents, and even applications (think, for instance, interactive seat selection for a flight) that permits enterprises and other business customers to differentiate from competitors in order to drive revenues through improved customer engagement and overall conversion rates.

“We are happy to have Infobip in our RCS ecosystem, in partnership with the operators, to develop RBM in Brazil”, says Silvio Pegado, head of Business Development, Messaging / RCS / RBM of Google for Latin America.

Using the RCS / RBM is simple. Users who already have the Android messaging app, native to most devices, just need to enable chat functionality (RCS) in their smartphone settings.

“Infobip, as a partner of Google and operators, has a fundamental role in the dissemination and uptake by companies”, says Caio Borges, Head of Sales at Infobip in Brazil. “We have

experience in working with this technology in other markets, such as Mexico, in which we already have customers using the channel. In this way, we can contribute a lot to the entry of RBM and RCS in Brazil.”

According to Borges, the new messaging channel will have a positive impact on the market, as it is yet another far reaching tool that currently works on Android devices – representing 85% of Brazilian smartphones, according to data from the StatCounter.

“Another important point is the unique experience that will be provided to consumers. The client will communicate with the company in a more fluid and rich way. Currently, people expect to have their demands met quickly, and, if possible, digitally. I don’t have doubts that RCS will meet this market demand with great quality “, complements the executive.

Many companies are celebrating the arrival of RCS in Brazil. Sérgio Coelho, Head of Product Design and Marketing at EBANX, believes that the RCS represents a new era for business messaging. “An important part of the transactional and informational messages with our users is carried out via SMS, through simple text messages and in a unilateral way. Our expectation regarding RCS is to go beyond simple chat messages”.

For Felipe Zoumbouridis, BTG Pactual Digital’s Marketing and CRM coordinator, the novelty is very welcome for the financial sector. “With the use of RCS we can interact with our customer in an even more efficient and engaging way, not just limited to sending texts and external links, but sending files, videos, vouchers and even making use as a service channel”, he says the executive.

Antonio Carlos Pina, CTO of Quod, says that RCS opens up a huge range of possibilities. “With the advancement of digitalization, having rich communication with images and video, bidirectional and as accessible as possible to mobile phones without the need to download applications opens up a giant opportunity in all stages of service, marketing, products and digital relationships. We commemorate the arrival of the RCS as the missing piece for greater customer convenience and with the resulting increase in their satisfaction”.

The arrival of RCS and RBM in Brazil was only possible thanks to coordinated efforts between the major operators in the country: Claro, TIM, Vivo and Oi. Infobip is one of the few RCS and RBM brokers in Brazil with a direct relationship with all operators to offer the market the best experience with this channel.

For Renato Ciuchini, Head of Strategy and Transformation at TIM Brasil, an Infobip partner company, RCS opens up new possibilities for interaction with consumers: ” One of our pillars for new projects and initiatives is precisely to value innovation and differentiated experiences. We believe that RCS will be an important relationship channel for all consumers, valuing the personalization and quality of communication.”

For Rodrigo Shimizu, Director of B2B Marketing at Oi, the novelty opens spaces for new interactions between users and brands. “With RCS we can offer broader communication for our users, as well as a rich experience. We see the launch for the Brazilian market with great hopes and positivity”.

Suzzy Cipriano, director of Terra and Vivo Ads, at Vivo, highlights the entry of RBM in the market. “With this new channel, companies will have a new option to use to get closer to their audiences that also allows a more interactive, agile, and safe experience for customers – all of which are powerful pillars for Vivo in all performances”.

“We are excited to bring RCS Business Messaging to the market with our trusted partner, Infobip.” Said Gabriel Portugal, head of Business Development and Advertising for the operator Claro Brasil.

With RCS in its broad portfolio of channels, Infobip will continue to invest in automation and customization, allowing its customers to develop increasingly effective campaigns. “We want to offer unique interactions and experiences between companies and customers, especially in this period of social isolation in which people rely on digital channels to meet their needs,”concludes Borges.

About Infobip

Infobip is a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected customer experiences across all stages of the customer journey at scale, with easy and contextualized interactions over customers’ preferred channels. Accessed through a single platform, Infobip’s omnichannel engagement, identity, user authentication security and contact center solutions help clients and partners overcome the complexity of consumer communications, grow their business and increase loyalty– all in a fast, secure and reliable way. With over a decade of industry experience, Infobip has expanded to include 65+ offices on six continents offering natively built technology with the capacity to reach over seven billion mobile Presenting a standardized product offering to the market devices and ‘things’ in 190+ countries connected to over 800 telecom networks. The company serves and partners with leading mobile operators, messaging apps, banks, social networks, tech companies, and aggregators.