United Kingdom (UK)

Prerequisites

Upgraded Twilio account: Free trial accounts must upgrade to a paid account.

Restrictions

As an RCS for Business provider, Twilio connects businesses with carriers that manage RCS connectivity. To ensure a trusted ecosystem with high-quality interactions, Twilio enforces partner rules and upholds the highest compliance standards.

Any use cases that violate Twilio’s Acceptable Use Policy, Messaging Policy, or Google’s Acceptable Use Policy are prohibited on Twilio’s platform, regardless of sender type or destination.

Requirements

General Requirements

Opt In Details: Please provide a screenshot or website of the opt-in indicating the user is consenting to receiving messages/communications related to the content being sent by your RCS sender.

Click here to view a sample screenshot for your reference.

Video URLs: Provide a video for Google to review your RCS Sender, showing core functionality and functioning opt-out capabilities (Sending of the word "STOP"). You can log in to your Twilio account and add a test device for your RCS sender. An invitation will be sent to the device and once approved, you’ll be able to send test messages and create a video showing the interactions including the opt-out capabilities. 

Please see an example here.

You must include both transactional and promotional messages as Twilio submits all RCS Senders as multi-use to avoid additional approvals when expanding to new use cases. Even if you are not currently sending messages in one of the below categories, we strongly recommend to include a sample message of potential future use cases.

• Promotional messages example (sales, marketing, and promotional messages):

  • Please use "XYZ20" to get a 20% discount.

  • Please click here to visit our website to get more information about "ABC" product
     

• Transactional message example (notifications, updates, or alerts to share information directly relevant to a customer's existing services or products):

  • Your bill is $21.23. Kindly pay before the due date to avoid penalties.

Your order has been successfully placed. Order ID : #31412312. It will be delivered within 3 business days.

Carrier Specific Requirements

• In Sender display information: Use a contact phone number with the +44 country code, or have no phone number listed at all.

• Submit a brand approval email (guidance and templates will be provided during onboarding)

• Your expected message frequency and volume.

Provide your company’s legal name, registered address, and Registration Number (BRN or CRN).

Timeframe

The RCS onboarding process has two main steps, each with its own timeline.

Step 1: Twilio Internal Review

After you submit a sender in the Twilio Console, a Twilio RCS onboarding specialist will begin the review process. 

This initial step is designed to confirm that your submission aligns with all carrier and messaging compliance requirements. The specialist will reach out to you with their findings, highlighting any corrections needed and providing guidance on how to fix them. 

The overall timeline for this process is variable and depends entirely on the compliance of your initial submission and your responsiveness to any requested changes. We can only move to the next stage once the submission is fully compliant.

Step 2: Carrier Review

Once your sender application passes Twilio's review, we submit it to our carrier partners in the United Kingdom for approval.

The final launch timeline can vary and may take longer depending on the use case and specific requirements.

The best way to ensure a faster approval is to submit a fully compliant application, as the process can be delayed if carriers require additional information or clarification.

Important Note: Please be aware that application timelines may be impacted by carrier network freezes or delays around major holidays.

Regulatory Bodies

Office of Communications (Ofcom).

Pricing

Learn more here.

Next Steps

Once your RCS sender is live, add it to your Messaging Service and begin sending messages. Learn more here.

Fallback SMS Sender: It is recommended to have a live Twilio SMS-capable sender to message devices that are not RCS-capable. Twilio offers built-in fallback.