RCS Communication: The key to successful mobile customer strategies

Orange Polska is one of Poland's leading telecommunication operators. It serves more than 20 million accounts, including more than 17 million active SIM cards. OPL is a pioneer in testing 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies on a large scale in Poland. They are focused on offering integrated services both in the mobile world and in the fixed internet connection area.

Backed by Synerise 's artificial intelligence (AI)-based ecosystem, Orange has been developing better customer experiences and achieving e-commerce growth since 2018. Together we have implemented product recommendations, including an AI recommendation engine for the My Orange mobile application, an AI-powered search engine, and dynamic content campaigns.?

If you're interested in discovering effective strategies for optimizing diverse campaigns using RCS (Rich Communication Services) while offering an engaging experience that includes a curated selection of preferred content for display, along with visually appealing presentation formats like recommendation carousels, we encourage you to continue reading. Find out how Orange Poland, one of Poland's largest telecom operators, automated the process for retention and simfree campaigns utilizing RCS capabilities and how they benefited from working with Synerise and Infobip . RCS communication enables the creation of interactive, branded, and content-rich messages that stand out from traditional messages such as SMS and MMS.?

At Orange, we consider RCS chat a new communication channel. It's an excellent alternative for interactive contact with customers who do not want to install additional applications on their phones. The possibility of implementing our use case confirmed our assumptions about the considerable potential. We all know that this is just the beginning. We have a head full of ideas and hope for more successful implementations.

Mariusz Ostrowski , AI Expert at Orange

Automation of RCS communication processes using the Synerise platform?

The telecommunication industry is an extremely competitive environment - operators strive to outdo each other with promotions, offers, and ways to reach customers. Key to the long-term success of communication service providers is maintaining customer loyalty. With RCS, operators can more effectively reach out to customers during key moments, such as the approaching end of a contract or after they abandon a cart. Orange can create a hyper-personalized, fully automated communication by combining data from Synerise and recommendations with customer data from its internal base and campaign management tool – Next Best Action (NBA) and the ability to send RCS communications through Infobip. The NBA system provides information on discounts and coupon availability, while Synerise's real-time automation matches the best bundle offers for Orange customers. Infobip delivers these offers in the form of interactive RCS communication. Such a combination enables a real-time reaction and provides freedom in terms of segmenting the customers who will receive the communication and choosing the most optimal time to send the campaign.?

RCS communication as a tool supporting Retention and Simfree campaigns?

• Retention?

Retention campaigns are an effective strategy to retain existing customers and strengthen their engagement. Thanks to diverse strategies and actions such as personalized offers, loyalty programs, and dedicated communications, telecom operators can retain customers for longer and build lasting relationships with them.?

A timely and personalized RCS message with attractive contract renewal offers, special discounts, or exclusive promotions can effectively persuade customers to renew their contracts. Orange sends communications at key points in the customer lifecycle and depending on user activity in real time.?For all these time key points, a personalized and clickable message is sent to the customer containing a carousel of benefits and two clickable options to choose from: offer with or without a phone.?

Orange has leveraged the advanced capabilities of Synerise's Automation module for efficient and targeted delivery of their retention campaign using RCS communication.?With the functionality offered by Synerise, Orange can configure automated scenarios that identify key moments in the customer lifecycle, such as the approaching end of a contract.?

Daily imports from Orange’s external database (NBA) provide, among other things, information about users in retention (those whose contract is about to end) and the end date of the contract. An expression counts whether there are enough days left until the specified points in time. Based on this information, a segment of customers is created, and AI recommendation prepares three phone recommendations for them. From the?webhook.response,?we retrieve the phones' data (name, price, graphic, link to the product card), which, together with customer information from Synerise (name, phone number) and discount codes, if assigned, are sent to Infobip in outgoing integration.

Thanks to Infobip’s tool, Moments, we have configured an entry point based on an external source that listens for any new events. In the situation where there is an opportunity for sending a message, the flow is triggered within Moments. If the event is triggered, e.g., during nighttime or holidays, we initiate the message during a more suitable time.

The flow itself contains a series of parameters that are then used in the customer's path in the RCS channel. Depending on the information received from Synerise and the customer's choices within the flow, they are guided to relevant content based on their preferences. We use rich content, e.g., cards and carousels to present recommended mobile phones that fit each customer’s profile. The final step within the RCS flow is to redirect the customer to a page on the domain orange.pl to complete the purchase. As a result, Orange can effectively engage its customers with attractive contract renewal offers, exclusive discounts, and product recommendations that are precisely tailored to their profile and buying behavior.

• Smartphones upsell (Simfree)

Simfree campaigns can attract a broader range of customers who prefer device flexibility and the freedom to choose their mobile plans. This can lead to an expanded customer base and increased market share, as sim-free customers can upgrade to new devices more frequently, potentially leading to more device sales.

A personalized simfree message?shows that the operator understands and values the customer's preferences. This positive experience can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Same as in the retention campaign,?Orange can send?a personalized and clickable?simfree campaign?message?depending on user activity in real time.?

Databases are generated from external analytics platforms and?user activity on the website and in the application. In the case of?external analytics platforms, the model calculates the probability of purchasing a new device (phone) in the near future then the data is delivered to Synerise through daily automated imports. Using this data (external analytics and user activity events), we can promptly respond with communications to user actions, such as addressing an abandoned cart.?In an example of such a communication, the user receives a message triggered by the event of abandoning their cart - at the end of the message, we give them an option to choose between two paths - an offer with just the phone or a phone with a subscription.

In both cases, we query the recommended phones in the automation, and the data from these recommendations is stored as an event on the user card in Synerise. From there, we retrieve the phones' data (phone images, name, price, product link), along with customer information from Synerise (including name, phone number), and send it through automation to the appropriate endpoint at Infobip.?

At Orange we decided to send RCS messages using Synerise because the added value it brings allows us to communicate even better with customers and respond to their needs.In RCS campaigns, we focused on maximum personalization of content so that the message that the customer receives is tailored to their needs and preferences. Thanks to Synerise, we can also respond in real time to their actions on orange.pl or in the app. The results of the campaign confirm that this was a good decision.

Justyna Gajda , Digitalization & Omnichannel expert at Orange

The advantage of RCS over SMS/MMS communication??

Legacy systems have been well-known and widely used for years. However, they have limitations - relying mainly on text-based messages and not offering advanced interactive features. Due to older technology, these systems can be more susceptible to security vulnerabilities, which can lead to unauthorized access to messages. RCS offers significantly more advanced messaging features and capabilities.

RCS provides users with a more engaging and appealing experience through integration capabilities such as chatbots, clickable links, interactive buttons, and carousels with graphics or personalized recommendations. Security and reliability are also among the advantages of RCS. It provides advanced security features, ensuring message encryption and protection against unauthorized access - by registering and verifying the sender, you ensure secure authentication. Message delivery reliability is also guaranteed, reducing the risk of message loss or delay.?

RCS analytics surpasses traditional SMS/MMS in providing detailed customer interaction data. Unlike SMS/MMS, where analytics are limited to message delivery, RCS enables tracking of delivery, read receipts, and customer interactions. Interactive elements like buttons, cards, and forms allow monitoring of recipient actions such as clicks, filled forms, and selected options, revealing customer behavior and preferences. Moreover, RCS analytics offers insights into the timing of recipient engagement, including when messages were opened, buttons clicked, or forms completed, aiding in response time assessment and communication customization.

Summary?

Thanks to its improved interactivity, media support, security, and integration with other digital channels, RCS was an obvious choice for Orange, which aims to deliver more engaging and personalized communication experiences to its customers. Compared to traditional systems, RCS communication has a greater chance of transforming recipients into active participants and can generate higher conversion rates - up to 3 times more, as Orange states. RCS engages recipients at a higher level, leading to a greater propensity to take desired actions. Such targeted and personalized RCS communication contributes to increased customer engagement, increased retention, and better results in Orange's campaigns.