Send RCS cards

An RCS card is a message with a photo or video, a title, some text, and buttons the recipient can tap. You build cards in a card template or in a Quick Send campaign. In a conversation, you send a card by choosing a card template.

You need an inbox that emu.chat has set up for RCS. Contact support to turn it on. Until your workspace has one, the Card option and card templates don't appear. Cards are not available during a trial. For how RCS works, see RCS messaging overview.

Build a card

Start the card in one of two places:

• Card template: go to Templates, click Create Template, and choose Card instead of Text.

• Quick Send: open Campaigns, choose an RCS inbox under Send from, and switch from Text to Card.

A message is either text or a card, not both. If the mode you're leaving has content, switching asks you to confirm and then clears it.

1. Enter a Title and a Message.

2. Click Add media and choose a photo or video, up to 20 MB. Every card needs one. Optionally, add alt text for screen readers.

3. Choose a Layout: Vertical with a media height, or Horizontal with the media on the left or right.

4. Optionally, click Add action to add buttons, up to 4 per card. The action types are listed below.

5. Save the template, or send or schedule the campaign.

Make a carousel

Click Add another card to send several cards in one message, up to 10. With more than one card:

• Every card uses the vertical layout.

• One Media height and Card width apply to all cards. Tall media needs medium-width cards.

• Each card keeps its own actions (up to 4), and you can add up to 11 more under Actions under the cards. Put the most important first: recipients see only the first few without scrolling.

Going back to one card removes the actions under the cards, after you confirm.

Action buttons

Each action has a type and a button label of up to 25 characters. The types are:

• Reply: a suggested reply. When tapped, the label comes back to you as a reply linked to the card.

• Dial: a phone number to call.

• Open link: a web link, which must start with https:// or http://.

• Open link in messages app: a web link that opens inside the messaging app, at full, three-quarter, or half screen.

• Add to calendar: an event with a title, description, and start and end time. The event must start after the message is sent.

• Send a location: a place you pick on a map.

• Ask for their location: asks the recipient to share where they are. Use it once per card, and once under the cards.

In a card template, you set the calendar event's times when you send the template, not when you build it.

Send a card template

To send a card in a conversation:

1. Open a conversation in an RCS inbox.

2. Click Templates in the composer and choose a card template. Card templates show a card icon.

3. If the card has an Add to calendar action, pick the event's start and end times.

4. Send the message.

You cannot edit the card in the conversation. To change it, edit the template, or remove the card and write a text message instead.

In Quick Send, pick a card template the same way from Templates. The campaign keeps its own copy, so later edits to the template don't change it.

A card template is greyed out with the reason when you cannot send it, for example during a trial, from an inbox without RCS, or to a contact known not to receive RCS. See Create and use message templates.

What recipients without RCS get

If a recipient cannot receive RCS, emu.chat sends the card as SMS or MMS instead. The text contains the card's title and message, followed by each action written out: the reply options, the phone number, the link, the event details, or the address.

• Single card: one message. The media goes with it as MMS where the number supports it, otherwise as a link.

• Carousel: one numbered message per card, plus one for the actions under the cards.

The builder previews this fallback text and how many messages it sends as. It warns you when the text gets close to the length limit, so shorten the title or message.

In the conversation, a card that went out this way is labelled as sent by SMS or MMS. See Why did my message fail? (message statuses explained).

Related articles

• RCS messaging overview

• Create and use message templates

• Send a bulk campaign with Quick Send