Overview
RCS Capabilities Check helps you determine if a US mobile subscriber is reachable via a particular RCS Agent. This feature is part of Bandwidth’s Phone Number Lookup API and is available to all customers contracted for RCS for Business.
RCS Capability Lookup Role
Once Bandwidth has enabled RCS for Business on your account, you must assign the RCS Capability Lookup role to an existing or new API Credential in the Bandwidth App, which will be used to authenticate the API user.
API usage
RCS Capabilities Check is available only via the synchronous phone number lookup and you must include the RCS Sender ID of your agent in the rcsAgent attribute of the API request payload. You can verify your Sender ID in the Bandwidth App:
Log in to the Bandwidth App.
In the side navigation bar, select Registration Center and click Campaigns.
Select the RCS tab and locate your Sender ID in the Sender ID column.
Lookup results
The results returned for each number specified in the request payload will vary depending on which other phone number lookup services you have on your account, but the RCS component itself will be represented by a single boolean attribute rcsEnabled. The query will return “True” if the mobile user handset is RCS-enabled and one of the following is true:
Agent is launched on the mobile operator who serves that mobile user.
The agent is in a Pre-Launch state and the number is opted in as a test device associated with that agent. Please note that the RCS Capabilities Check presently returns “False” for this scenario, but it will be modified soon to provide the expected results.
Note: “True” does not necessarily reflect whether the number/device itself is RCS-enabled; it indicates whether it’s reachable by your particular agent.
RCS Capabilities Check and other phone number lookup services
RCS Capabilities Check can be standalone or included with other phone number lookup services.
Standalone
If you’re contracted for RCS for Business, but not any other phone number lookup services, your query will return only the rcsEnabled boolean. There’s no cost for this lookup.
With basic phone number lookup
Bandwidth’s basic phone number lookup returns carrier intelligence information about a number, including message provider, voice provider, and line type. The rcsEnabled boolean is added to this information when queried via the synchronous phone number lookup, and the query is billed at the contracted rate.
With Dynamic Number Intelligence
Dynamic Number Intelligence (DNI) provides advanced carrier intelligence information, including deactivation reporting and observed messaging activation status, and supports unlimited use of the Phone Number Lookup API. The rcsEnabled boolean is added to this information when queried via the synchronous phone number lookup, and the query is fully covered as part of the DNI subscription with no additional charge.