Making RCS Happen

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Making RCS Happen

Contents

04 . . . . Introduction
05 . . . . Background
05 . . . . Network Transformation Towards the IP Era
06 . . . . What Is RCS?
06 . . . . Internet Service Alternatives
07 . . . . Highlights of RCS Specifications

08 . . . . The Promise of RCS
08 . . . . Just There, Just Works
08 . . . . The Real Deal

09 . . . . The Challenge
09 . . . . A Paradigm Shift Is Required
09 . . . . The Challenging Interim Phase in an Ecosystem-Dependent Promise
10 . . . . A Growing Sense of Urgency

11 . . . . Suggested Tactics for Making RCS Happen
1 . . . . From Irrelevant Incumbent to Relevant Challenger
1
12 . . . . Address Your Subscribers – Not Theirs
12 . . . . New RCS Services for a Well Developed User Base
12 . . . . Segment and Conquer
13 . . . . Erroneous Tactics Resulting from Non-Relevant Paradigm: RCSe

15 . . . . Comverse Digital and Value Added Services
16 . . . . Wrap Up

Introduction
IP communication services have profoundly changed the
way we communicate, collaborate, share experiences
and lead our daily lives. They define groundbreaking
user experiences and deliver communication services
to a multitude of devices: tablets, smartphones, laptops,
PCs and TVs – effectively usurping the phone’s status
as the central means of communication.
Key telecom service concepts such as long distance
and roaming charges are losing their relevance in an
IP world. When compared to traditional telephony
(Time Division Multiplexing – TDM), the flexibility and
low capacity costs of IP enable communication service
providers (CSPs) to reduce their operational costs. This
higher value / lower costs equation leads to a simple
conclusion: a decline of TDM-based communication
services and an inevitable shift to IP communication
services.
On a network level, CSPs have yielded to the consumer
demand for greater bandwidth and capacity by
transforming their networks to all-IP, further strengthening
the momentum towards IP communication. However,
on the services side, they lag far behind Internet players.
In 2007, the GSMA published the Rich Communication
Suite (RCS) specification, which clearly defined a
modern framework for IP communication services
(Services Platform) and detailed the optimal suite of
rich, interoperable, IP communication services that
should ultimately be delivered by any modern CSP. The
hope of the initiative was that RCS would be developed,
deployed and adopted alongside the advancement in
IP networks and access services.

4

15 Making RCS Happen

However, the hope has not been realized, and the delay
in the development of services created a substantial
gap in which Internet-based communication players
have developed, grown and staked their claim in the IP
communication domain. The result is that CSPs are not
perceived as IP communication service providers. If this
perception remains, CSPs will inevitably be reduced to
the role of mere network CSPs.
The RCS initiative aims at bringing IP communication
services to a state-of-the-art level of maturity where their
usage would be straightforward and their reach would
be ubiquitous. In an expression coined by GSMA, RCS
is about IP communication services that are “just there,
just work”. This creates a very high value proposition
that can be only realized by the telecom industry. The
key strength and enabler of this value proposition is
the ecosystem of CSPs, device manufacturers, system
vendors and users joining forces and working together
to realize this promise.
However, the late entry of CSPs into the IP
communication market turns this key strength into a key
weakness, as it will take at least two years for the RCS
ecosystem to come to fruition. Until that happens, RCS
services face a significant challenge in trying to stand
out in a market congested with free, innovative, popular,
Internet-based IP communication services. Without
significant uptake, the ecosystem cannot be realized
and RCS will remain a “too little too late” failed attempt
of the telecom industry.
The key challenge in making RCS happen is not a
technical challenge but rather a marketing challenge.
That is the focus of this whitepaper.

Background
Network Transformation
Towards the IP Era
Telecom network CSPs are undergoing a major shift
from a telephony (Circuit Switch – TDM) network
to a computer (Packet Switch – IP) network. This
transformation is due to a clear and ongoing trend:
increased data traffic, with a need for high bandwidth for
more and more users. Networks are finding it tough to
keep up with this rapidly evolving traffic and the demands
of customers for new services and applications. In order
to deliver this traffic correctly, the transport infrastructure
will continue to evolve. IP is seen as the way forward
and the need for all-IP networks has never been greater.

The IP communication experience is not new to
consumers. Early adopters and the young generation
are already utilizing IP-enabled rich communication
services provided by Internet players who evolved IP
rich communication from its bleeding edge phase in
the late 1990s to mid-2000s, to its current leading
edge phase.

Soon all CSPs around the globe, fixed and mobile,
will be managing such interconnected, carrier-class
computer networks. Towards this end, CSPs are investing
unprecedented capital, and are undergoing significant
organizational and operational transformation.
A native IP network has very little in common with a
legacy TDM network. The new IP network implements
a fundamentally different networking philosophy that
changes network operation from the ground up and, as
a result, requires a whole different skill set from network
planners, managers and service designers. The IP
network also introduces much higher capacity and QoS
flexibility, enabling a far richer set of communication
services. When it comes to communication services,
instead of connecting the CSP’s services garden to its
subscribers’ phones, the new IP network interconnects
between the CSP’s garden, the Internet’s open garden
and every IP-enabled consumer device – smartphones,
tablets, PCs, TV, etc. It does not, however, connect
phones per-se. That is, every communication service,
even the basic voice service, requires a software
implemented client on the user’s device.

Technology Lifecycle

With the shift to IP networks, CSPs are now set to further
evolve IP communications services to a state-of-the-art
phase.

Making RCS Happen 51

5

What is RCS?
The high capacity, flexibility and agility of IP networks
enable new, media-enhanced communication services
plus significant enrichment of existing services. Hence,
with the evolution to an IP network, there is an obvious
need to rethink core services.
With telephony networks, CSPs had one core service
– voice – along with a minimal set of value-added
messaging services. The questions now are how CSPs
should migrate their existing services to IP and what new
services they should offer. In other words, what new
base set of services should customers expect to get from
CSPs in the IP era? The GSMA’s Rich Communication
Suite (RCS) initiative answers this question.

RCS specifications clearly define a modern framework
for communication services (Services Platform) and
detail the optimal suite of rich, IP-based communication
services that should be offered on this modern platform
– see Highlights of RCS Specifications (page 7). RCS
specifies exactly what standards should be utilized for
each feature and service, and then goes the extra mile
to define the User to Network Interface (UNI) or basic
user experience (UX) that should be implemented for
these services. It thereby assures that these services will
be globally interoperable, automatically discoverable,
and that the UX will be straightforward and generally
uniform across all platforms, CSPs and continents.

Internet Service Alternatives
As mentioned above, none of the RCS services are
new to consumers today. Utilization of IP to deliver rich
communication experiences (IM, VoIP, video, social
communication) was started by Internet startups in the
late 90s, and was adopted and further developed by
the big Internet technology players (Microsoft, Google,
Apple, Facebook). These types of communication have
profoundly changed the way that people communicate,
share their everyday experiences and stay in touch.
As such, RCS services come to serve the customers’
well-developed needs and expectations of modern, IPbased, communication services.

RCS is set to deliver an experience beyond voice and SMS by
providing users with instant messaging or chat, live video sharing and
file transfer across any device, on any network, with anyone in their
mobile address book

6


Highlights of RCS Specifications
An RCS Service Platform Should Enable:
Capability/Service Discovery

RCS Services (Based on RCS 5.1)
Standalone Messaging

User A can determine what services are available before

Replacing and modernizing SMS and MMS, it adds group

initiating communication with User B (Capability Discovery).

messaging with reply to all, multi-device capability with no
limitations on size and type of message. Includes fallback to

Service Providers (SPs) can roll out new, agreed-upon

legacy SMS/MMS for users without RCS capability.

services based on their own deployment schedule or
One-to-One Chat

market requirements (Service Discovery).

User alias and notifications for Delivered, Displayed and Is
Auto Provisioning, Auto Client Configuration

Composing.

and Auto User Registration
Gives the user the impression that the new services work
out of the box; minimizes the operational impact on SPs.
End User Confirmation Request

Group Chat
Multiple party chat.
File Transfer

Allows the SP to inform the user about a certain situation by

Exchange content (files) during a call or in a standalone

opening an information dialog box and asking the user to

manner.

confirm or decline the proposed request.
Content Sharing
Multi-Device Support

Share videos and pictures in near real-time during a call or

A user can interact with a service via any connected device

in a standalone manner.

that is technically capable of initiating or terminating the
service – e.g., mobile phone, tablet, PC, TV. When the

Social Presence Information

recipient accepts or rejects a call from any of the devices,

Share availability, portrait icon, status text, links, and user

the other devices will stop alerting.

location & time zone with selected contacts.
Geolocation Services

Security and Privacy
Mechanisms

to

ensure

user authentication,

secure

user communications and enable users to control the

Push or pull location information and optional descriptive
text to or from another RCS subscriber.

information they share.
IP Voice Call
Personal Network Blacklists
User may block undesired communication, messages and

IP Video Call

media.
Network Store
Enables service synchronization between multiple devices
and optional auto-archiving of communication history.

For the latest RCS specification go to the GSMA website: www.gsma.com/rcs/specification-update


7

The Promise of RCS
CSPs who facilitate a large eco-system of CSPs,
network equipment vendors, device manufacturers
and third-party developers. This places these services
at the core of the communication service package
and enables seamless, system-wide integration of
the client and user interface into operating systems
of IP-enabled devices (mobile devices, PCs and TVs).
Consequently, subscribers can initiate any service via
a very simple, straightforward interface on any device,
without wondering if the other party can receive such
communication.

Just There, Just Works
Internet players enable a vast selection of innovative
rich communication services with admirable user
experiences. However, these independent service
providers are creating silos of users and services that
will never interconnect. Furthermore, registration and
usage of these Internet services requires the user to
have a relatively high level of technology awareness.
The vision of the RCS initiative is to create such services
that work out of the box with carrier grade quality. Or as
the GSMA puts it, these services should be just there,
just work for every subscriber on every device.
This will define IP communication as a state-of-the-art
technology.
What sets the RCS initiative apart from the herd of
Internet services is that it is driven by global telecom

8


The Real Deal
The key value proposition for consumers to have these
services just there just work is that this set of services
will then become a platform for innovative third-party
applications. That is, a third-party application, game, TV
program, CRM system, commercial website, etc., will be
able to utilize these services trusting that they are just
there, just work.
This has endless potential for enriching our lives.
The synergy between services such as chat, video
streaming, file transfer and geo-location that “just work”,
and vertical applications for mobile health, customer
support, parental control, enterprise applications, etc.,
is limited only by the imagination. Such a realization
requires a cross-platform, standardized set of base
services, available out of the box, with a globally unified
UX. No silo Internet service can offer this value.

The Challenge
A Paradigm Shift Is Required
The telecom industry refers to the existing IP
communication service providers as Over the Top (OTT)
services and some refer to the RCS services as tools to
fight the OTTs. This paradigm implies that CSPs are the
incumbents whose walled garden was recently broken
into by niche service providers providing services over
their head and cannibalizing their revenues.
This is a flawed perception that ignores market
dynamics. It may cause a misunderstanding of the
marketing challenge of making RCS happen – and, as a
result, contribute to the failure to do so.
For more than a century, CSPs have been operating
telephone networks connecting user phones to the
CSPs’ walled garden. For TDM telephony services, these
walls are still sealed.
In the late 90s, a new parallel IP communication
services market started to form, offering innovative
communication services that did not exist in the CSPs
sphere to date. Today, this market has established
incumbents – strong, innovative giants such as Google,
Facebook, Apple and Microsoft.
Due to the characteristics of IP communication services
(see text box), users perceive a strong distinction
between the CSP garden and the IP communication
garden – and may even favor a specific CSP service (e.g. ,
SMS) for certain needs and a similar IP communication
service (Facebook chat/Google Hangouts) for other
needs.
However, users don’t regard CSPs as providers of
IP communication services. Hence, as far as IP
communication goes, CSPs are the challengers
and Internet players are the incumbents. With
RCS, CSPs aspire to become the provider of choice
for IP communications – a market they currently hold
practically no share in.

Understanding and accepting this new paradigm is
crucial for crafting a winning strategy and effective
tactics to make RCS happen.

Key Differentiating Characteristics of IPBased Communication Services:
Available in parallel on any IP-enabled
device
Enriched and evolving user experience
True global communications irrespective
of distance or geographic issues (long
distance and roaming charges)
Less reliable than telecom service, but
more than good enough

The Challenging Interim
Phase in an EcosystemDependent Promise
The promised value of having rich communication
services that are just there, just work will be delivered
only once the entire telecom ecosystem – vendors,
CSPs, device manufacturers and subscribers – migrates
to the new platform. In the interim phase, prior to
having the ecosystem come to its RCS fruition, the
promise will remain distant and the new RCS services
will offer only limited value to users: limited reachability
and downloadable clients with limited UX will make it
hard for RCS services to gain traction. However, CSPs
cannot afford to wait for ecosystem readiness.


9

A Growing Sense of Urgency
The RCS initiative kicked off in 2007. At that point in
time there was no (or practically no) Facebook, Twitter,
iPhone, Google Play Store, WhatsApp, Google Hangouts,
Viber, cloud services, etc. Looking back, it is hard to
believe that all these services and brands, that today
form the cornerstone of our digital life, are so new. But
that’s the development pace of the IP communication
market. Internet-based services proliferate, propagate
and improve at an unbelievable speed.
Had CSPs launched RCS services in 2008/9, the
marketing challenge would have been significantly
simpler. It is still possible to make RCS happen, but the
IP communications development clock is ticking. The
discrete communities formed by the different players
are merging: Apple introduced system-wide integration
with Facebook and Twitter in iOS and Mac OS, Microsoft
is merging the Messenger community with the Skype
community and making both of them native on the
Windows Mobile 8 OS. Google is pushing WebRTC,
an HTML 5 technology that aims to break down the
walls between all of the silo services and enable rich
communication directly between Internet browsers of
any IP device.

10


The speed with which things change in this IP world
places tremendous pressure on CSPs to enter the IP
market or risk losing their dominance as communication
service providers and be relegated to mere network
operators. To maintain their incumbent service provider
position, CSPs should strive to become the provider of
choice for IP communications.
The window of opportunity for CSPs to establish
themselves as the ultimate providers of choice in the
IP communication sphere is rapidly closing. The shortterm ramifications of not having the full RCS ecosystem
in place to unleash the promise of just there, just works
can be mitigated by a well thought out marketing plan
and effective tactics that will ensure high adoption rates
for the new services.

Suggested Tactics for
Making RCS Happen
Due to the network effect of communication services
(the value of a service for a user depends on the size
of the user base), the key milestone to making RCS
happen is to reach a critical mass of users. According to
the network effect theory, the critical mass point, where
enough individuals are using a communication service
in order to ensure self-sustained adoption, is estimated
to be around 15%-20% of market share. By definition,
this initial market share is of the Early Adopter user type.
(See illustration below).

popular services, the Early Majority can be correctly
defined as smartphone users who understand the
concept of downloading and using different applications
on their smartphones. While they may not be the first
to utilize new services, they would find value in utilizing
traditional voice and messaging services on their tablet
or PC, as well as utilizing them while roaming, knowing
that they will be charged local rates.
But first things first – the CSPs need to build a new,
state-of-the-art IP communication platform.

From Irrelevant Incumbent
to Relevant Challenger
The Diffusion of Innovation According to Rogers

As such, CSPs need to focus their value proposition on
the Early Adopters. Once they are on board, growth will
be self-sustained. However, these types of users are
already interconnected between themselves with various
Internet-based IP communication services providing the
same services as the “new” RCS services but with a
much larger user base. How then can CSPs lure the
Early Adopters to their new IP communication platform?
To answer that, we need to search for key CSP assets
that can be leveraged to enter this new market. The
answer lies in the existing CSP services.
By offering an IP version of the existing CSP services,
CSPs provide relevant value not only to Early Adopters
but also to the Early Majority. Since these services are
not new and are in fact, existing, established and highly

The cornerstone for the delivery of IP communication
services is the IP service platform, whose role is to
streamline service introduction and realize the unique
service characteristics enabled in an IP platform (see
Table 1). The RCS Framework specification (described
in Highlights of RCS Specifications, page 7) describes
the essential requirements of an IP communication
services platform. However, the RCS specification does
not address one key characteristic of IP – its inherent
openness to the Internet. By enhancing the RCS
platform with Open API and Internet Services Gateway,
CSPs can augment the value for their customers
through interaction with Internet services, integration
with webpages through WebRTC and the introduction
of high-value third-party applications that utilize the CSP
communication services, thereby increasing the value
offered by the new platform.
CSPs need to step into the ring and become relevant
challengers.


11

Address Your Subscribers –
Not Theirs

New RCS Services for a Well
Developed User Base

As mentioned above, the first services offered on the
new platform should be the existing CSP services: voice,
SMS, MMS and voicemail. These services are the key
assets of the CSP as they are heavily used and are still
generally attributed to CSPs. By offering these services
on the new service platform, the CSP approaches its
own customers – not the Internet players’ customers.

Once the value for early adopters is maximized, CSPs
can introduce new rich services. Early adopters are
familiar with these types of services and utilize them
highly. The goal should be to become the provider of
choice for these rich services. The CSP can leverage its
key assets by enabling interaction between all services
– existing, new and Internet services.

Early Adopters and the Early Majority will find value in
the enriched user experience of using these popular
services on their tablet, PC or TV, communicating
globally without incurring long distance or roaming
charges, and in the interaction of these services with
Web services such as messaging interactively with
Facebook, calling by clicking on a phone number on a
webpage, etc. In fact, these services would be the only
IP communication services on earth that have 100%
reach for any layman user. By providing real value to the
initial users, CSPs are more likely to build their critical
mass of users faster.

Segment and Conquer

Another key reason for introducing the existing services
first is to break the perceptual fences between IP
communication services and traditional CSP services
and, as such, to position the CSP not only as a relevant
IP communication provider, but as an established one.

12


To realize the power of just there, just works IP
communication services, CSPs should strive for quick
utilization of RCS services by vertical applications that
will provide high value for specific segments: enterprise
applications, mobile health, parental control, education,
etc. A popular TV show that utilized these services as
input for voting, content creation, etc. would greatly
assist in positioning these services as the de-facto IP
communication services.

Erroneous Tactics Resulting
from Non-Relevant
Paradigm: RCS-e
Five years after the publication of the first RCS
specification and upon witnessing the fast propagation
of OTT IP communication services, the big 5 European
CSPs* decided to initiate RCS by launching RCS-e, a
cut-down version of RCS aimed at simplifying the
introduction of services and providing faster time-tomarket. RCS-e focuses on a set of new communication
services: namely chat, file transfer and video share,
and completely ignores existing CSP services. The first
implementations of RCS-e were launched during the
second half of 2012.
The problem is that while the long-term promise
of RCS is to be just there just works, the current
implementation of RCS requires downloading a client,
offering no competitive edge over existing OTT services,
as it not only impairs the user experience but it also
limits the service reachability.

Let’s look at it from the perspective of an Early Adopter
who is considering downloading and installing the
RCS-e client on his mobile device. Given that he is
already using the top OTT rich communication services,
what new services are enabled by RCS-e? Will RCS-e
improve the UX of the OTT services he is already using?
Will it extend the reach of existing services? The answer
is a resounding “no”.
By overlooking the need to create a value proposition
for Early Adopters to encourage service uptake, CSPs
are unable to hit the critical mass point and the services
are not taking off.
Ignoring the existing services, the key asset of the CSPs,
RCS-e has reinforced the perception that CSPs are the
incumbents and Internet players are the challengers
and as such, assumed that by offering services similar
to OTT services, IP communication users will be inclined
to use their services.
* Orange™, Vodafone, Telefónica, Telecom Italia™ and
Deutsche Telekom.

Already using top OTT rich communication services, Early Adopters are not seeing the value in RCS-e


13

The Shift to IP Services and the Resulting Requirements of an IP Service Platform - Table 1

TDM-Era Network

IP-Era Network

Implication

Resulting Requirements from a
Modern Service Platform

Connecting
subscriber phones to
the CSP network

Interconnecting between
IP-enabled devices
(phones, computers,
tablets, TVs), the CSP
network and the Internet
cloud

Any service should
be enabled on
every connected
device capable of
terminating/initiating
the service

Multi-device service capability,
including central network store For
synchronization between all devices

Requires a client and
configuration of each
UE device

Mechanisms to enable out-of-thebox user experience and streamline
service ignition

Every IP service
provider on the planet
may offer services to
the subscriber

The platform should enable the
CSP to tap the creativity of the WW
community of developers (Open
API), and leverage existing 3rd party
services (Internet Services Gateway)

Consists of many
vendors’ proprietary
technologies

Implementation
of services should
adhere to standards
whenever possible

The platform should conform to the
generally accepted standards in the
industry i.e., RCS

Circuit Switch
based (high cost
for capacity, zero
flexibility in QoS)

14

Based solely on open
standards, driven by
global interops

Packet Switch based
(low costs per capacity,
ultimate flexibility in
QoS)

All services planned
for the long term
should eventually
be natively packet
switched

The platform should support a native
IP version of existing services


Comverse
Digital and Value
Added Services
Become an integral part of subscribers’
digital lifestyle with Comverse Digital
and Value-Added Services offering
Safeguard profits from existing services
Introduce new (RCS) communication services
Turn social networks into an opportunity

Evolving traditional services to IP to
safeguard profits and build a critical
mass of users for new IP services
Comverse dVAS prevents the erosion of traditional voice
and messaging communication services by enabling
them on any Internet-connected device, with a rich user
experience. Comverse dVAS interworks with existing
legacy services to create IP communication services
with 100% reach, using the subscriber’s existing phone
number. This enables CSPs to rapidly build a critical
mass of users for new IP-based offerings, an essential
step towards evolving to the digital era. Moreover, by
providing enhanced voice and messaging services over
IP, Comverse dVAS empowers CSPs to become an
integral part of subscriber digital lifestyles, positioning
them as progressive digital service players.

Delivering the promise of RCS to remain
relevant as a communications service
provider in the digital era

in addition to visual voicemail connectivity, archiving
and social network communications. Comverse
RCS+ also enables the decommissioning of legacy
delivery engines, by converging SMSC/MMSC/VMS
functionalities. Comverse RCS+ services are supported
on any Internet-connected device, across operating
systems and networks.

Harvesting social information to
sharpen retail and marketing power
Comverse Share™ works in concert with Comverse
dVAS and RCS+ and provides insight into the digital
lifestyle of subscribers. Comverse Share™ enables
CSPs to cost-effectively utilize social networks and gain
insight into the digital lifestyle of their subscribers from
social networks, by leveraging their new IP presence on
subscribers’ devices. Comverse Share™ provides access
to communication services alongside self-service
options, attracting heavy users of social networks while
facilitating the adoption of new services such as RCS.
This enables CSPs to increase retail and marketing
power while effectively enhancing the overall customer
experience.

Providing the architecture essential
for CSP success
Comverse Digital and Value Added Services offering
utilizes Comverse’s scalable, telco-grade ICS
Foundation, which is designed for IMS environments
and includes OAM&P tools, alongside centralized
H-Base multi-content storage and WebRTC support
through open API. The new offering fully complies with
RCS/VoLTE specifications to deliver full network/device
interoperability and enable multi-device services.
Moreover, it can be fully virtualized and enabled as a
service, facilitating increased agility and profitability.

Comverse RCS+ enhances the communication service
package by extending it with the full range of RCS 5.1
services (standalone messaging, one-to-one chat,
group chat, file transfer, content sharing, social presence
information, geolocation and IP voice and video calls),


15

Wrap Up
In summary, the shift from TDM services to IP
communication services is inevitable. However, to date,
CSPs have practically no market share as providers of IP
communication services. This market is dominated by
Internet giants who provide free, innovative, global IP
communication services.
The RCS initiative defines the ultimate set of services
CSPs should provide on their new IP network. However,
due to the late entry into the IP communication services
market, the key challenge of making RCS happen is a
marketing challenge. CSPs should realize that in the
IP communication market they are the challengers,
while the Internet players are the incumbent service
providers.
To make their new IP communication services stand
out, CSPs should leverage their traditional voice and
messaging services. By introducing IP versions of these
services, with a fallback to their TDM equivalent, CSPs
can create a significant value proposition for initial
users of the new platform and position themselves
as established IP communication service providers.
This would assist CSPs in gaining a strong initial user
base for their new IP services platform, providing
enough value from the new RCS services to make the
continued adoption self-sustained – and in this way,
making RCS happen.
Comverse has created their Digital and Value Added
Services offering based on the above strategy and
accompanying tactics. This offering provides CSPs with
the optimal tools to evolve their services to IP and
become the provider of choice for next-generation IP
communications.

16


Making RCS Happen

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