RingCentral adds RCS, AI & Teams tools for business

RingCentral has introduced new messaging, calling and AI features for business customer communications, including branded messaging through RCS, wider SMS coverage and new Microsoft Teams integrations.

The update focuses on helping companies identify themselves more clearly across text and voice, while adding automation to shared SMS inboxes and call queues. It also extends RingCentral's reach outside the US, with SMS support in Australia under controlled availability and UK SMS set to follow.

Messaging push

One of the main changes is the launch of branded messaging through Rich Communication Services, or RCS. The format allows businesses to send messages with a verified identity inside a recipient's native messaging app, replacing standard texts from an unfamiliar number with a thread that can display a brand name, logo and tagline.

This is the first stage of RingCentral's RCS rollout. Later phases are expected to add richer media, interactive carousels and one-tap reply options.

Dave Michels, principal and lead analyst at TalkingPointz, pointed to growing support for the standard among mobile users and network operators. "RCS adoption is growing rapidly and offers similar formatting and features as popular over-the-top applications. For example, in the US, approximately 75% of smartphone users are RCS enabled. All major mobile carriers and devices support RCS, yet most B2C messages remain old-fashioned SMS texts," Michels said. "RingCentral is among the first wave of major CCaaS providers that natively support RCS, which comes with higher trust and engagement."

RingCentral is also expanding SMS services internationally. Organisations can use SMS in the UK and Australia through their existing business number or direct line, while notification messages with alphanumeric sender IDs can now be sent across 190 countries.

Those international notifications are supported by intelligent routing, fallback options and carrier partnerships, with an average deliverability rate of 98%.

Branded calls

Alongside messaging, RingCentral is expanding branded identity for voice calls. Its Enterprise Branded Calling service allows outbound calls to display a company's name and logo when contacting customers.

The move is aimed at countering lower answer rates as consumers grow more cautious about unknown numbers. In healthcare, where appointment reminders and test results often rely on outbound calls, providers say that behaviour has become a practical problem.

"Like many healthcare organizations, we've seen our patient callback rates drop significantly as people become more hesitant to answer unknown numbers," said Eric Brosius, VP of Tech Services at Sun River Health. "Enterprise Branded Calling will help us cut through that noise by clearly identifying our calls with the Sun River Health name and logo. We expect this will dramatically improve our ability to reach patients for appointment reminders, test results, and other critical communications."

Ashu Varshney, senior vice president of RingEX Products at RingCentral, said the company is responding to changing customer behaviour around calls and text messages. "The way consumers decide whether to answer a call or open a text has fundamentally changed in an era of rising spam, making brand recognition and trust essential in everyday communications," Varshney said. "We're giving businesses the tools to show up with identity, intelligence, and reach across every channel-enabling trusted, reliable engagement at scale."

AI reception

RingCentral has also expanded AI Receptionist, known as AIR, beyond voice to cover shared SMS inboxes and call queues. The system can now automatically reply to incoming text enquiries, interpret customer intent and maintain context across channels, according to the company.

It can also step into call queues when agents are unavailable or wait times rise, with the aim of reducing abandoned interactions and collecting information for follow-up. The product is designed to handle routine questions instantly and provide responses outside normal business hours.

Industry analysts said a broader challenge for many businesses is fragmentation between communications tools and customer engagement systems. "Currently, customers face significant challenges with their existing Unified Communications & Collaboration stack and customer engagement platforms, such as integration complexity and a lack of unified data and analytics. These issues create inefficiencies, hinder seamless communication, and negatively impact customer experiences," said Prachi Nema, principal analyst for Unified Communications & Collaboration at Omdia. "It is exactly where RingCentral, powered by its comprehensive platform suite and enhanced by the advanced capabilities of AIR, is designed to address these types of pain points."

Teams focus

RingCentral is also targeting Microsoft Teams users with a Customer Engagement Bundle that brings voice, SMS, call routing and AI-based post-call summaries into the Teams interface. The bundle is intended to let staff manage and track customer interactions without leaving Microsoft's workplace platform.

Features include queue position updates, wait time announcements, callback options and shared SMS inbox workflows. The package also adds real-time and historical reporting on activity and team performance.

"Most organizations aren't lacking tools-they're struggling with disconnected systems that break the customer experience," said Mila D'Antonio, principal analyst for Customer Engagement at Omdia. "RingCentral's Customer Engagement Bundle for Teams embeds customer interactions directly into the platforms where employees already work-reducing complexity and accelerating time-to-value."

Brain Health USA said the system has changed how its staff handle sensitive patient contact. "The RingCentral Customer Engagement Bundle allows our medical staff at Brain Health USA to manage patient outreach and crisis calls with much higher visibility, ensuring no patient is left waiting during critical moments," said Andrew Shenoda, IT manager at Brain Health USA. "By leveraging these AI-driven tools, we can achieve a 40% reduction in administrative task time and gain 3x more insight into our communication patterns, allowing us to focus our energy entirely on mental health outcomes."

RingCentral is also adding Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams, which will support global calling across 46 countries through the Teams environment, with central provisioning through the Teams Admin Centre.

Branded Messaging, international SMS notifications, the Customer Engagement Bundle for Microsoft Teams and AIR for SMS inboxes and call queues are available now.