RingCentral Unveils Advanced Business Messaging, AI-Powered Engagement, and Phone Innovations to Enable Smarter Customer Interactions

Key Terms

rich communication services (rcs) technical

A messaging standard that upgrades basic text messages to support images, typing indicators, read receipts, group chats and interactive business messages, like turning a postcard into a small instant app. It matters to investors because it can create new revenue and engagement opportunities for carriers, phone makers and businesses that send customer messages, enabling richer ads, payments and verified interactions that can drive sales and reduce reliance on third‑party apps.

ai receptionist technical

An AI receptionist is a software-based system that greets and interacts with customers or callers, handles routine questions, schedules appointments, and routes inquiries without a human front-desk employee. Like a virtual front desk clerk, it can lower staffing costs, speed response times and scale service during busy periods, but it also raises questions about reliability, data privacy and customer satisfaction—factors that can affect a business’s costs, revenue and regulatory risk.

customer engagement bundle (ceb) technical

A customer engagement bundle (CEB) is a packaged set of tools and services a business uses to communicate with, support, and sell to its customers—think messaging, loyalty programs, analytics and campaign management bundled together like a home entertainment system of apps that work as one. For investors it matters because an effective CEB can raise repeat purchases, cut marketing costs and reveal growth trends, making revenue more predictable and customer value easier to scale.

operator connect technical

A telecom program that lets traditional phone carriers plug their voice services directly into cloud-based business communication platforms, so companies can make and receive public phone calls inside the same app they use for meetings and messaging. Investors care because it can increase recurring revenue for carriers, speed customer migration to cloud services, and create partnership-driven growth opportunities while reducing the friction and costs businesses face when moving away from legacy phone systems.

shared sms inbox technical

A shared SMS inbox is a single phone-number or messaging account that multiple employees can use together to send, receive and track text messages with customers or partners, like a communal email inbox but for SMS. Investors care because it affects how well a company communicates at scale, impacts customer service speed, marketing reach, compliance with messaging rules, and operational costs—factors that influence revenue, retention and regulatory risk.

call queues technical

Call queues are the electronic waiting lines that manage people trying to reach a company by phone for things like investor conference calls, earnings hotlines, or customer support. They matter to investors because long or poorly managed queues can delay access to important information, signal high demand or technical problems, and affect the timing and quality of real‑time communication—similar to waiting in line at a ticket counter before an event.

alphanumeric sender ids technical

Alphanumeric sender IDs are the name shown as the sender on a text message instead of a phone number, using letters and numbers so a company name or short label appears like a caller ID for SMS. Investors care because these IDs help recipients recognize official updates—reducing confusion and improving reach for urgent disclosures, trading alerts or investor relations—while also raising regulatory and fraud-detection considerations if not properly managed.

intelligent call routing technical

Intelligent call routing is a system that directs incoming phone or chat requests to the right person or automated tool using rules, customer data, and real‑time information rather than sending every call to a general queue. For investors it matters because smarter routing reduces customer wait time and handling costs, boosts sales or retention by connecting people to the best resource quickly, and can improve service metrics the market uses to judge a company’s operational efficiency — like a smart traffic light that clears jams and keeps vehicles moving.

RCS, branded messaging, and international SMS elevate business messaging into more interactive, trusted customer experiences

AI Receptionist (AIR) brings real-time, automated engagement to SMS and call queues

Customer Engagement Bundle for Microsoft Teams transforms Teams into a hub for voice, messaging, and AI-powered customer engagement

BELMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- RingCentral, Inc. (NYSE: RNG), a global leader in AI-powered business communications, today announced innovations designed to help organizations deliver trusted, always-on customer engagement. New capabilities include Rich Communication Services (RCS) with Branded Messaging, Enterprise Branded Calling, international SMS expansion, Customer Engagement Bundle (CEB) for Microsoft Teams, and Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams. In addition, RingCentral has expanded AI Receptionist (AIR) to shared SMS inbox and call queues, enabling real-time, automated engagement that ensures no customer inquiry is missed.

New RCS & Branded Messaging

RingCentral is introducing the availability of Branded Messaging through RCS, marking a big leap forward from sending standard SMS. Rather than plain text from an unrecognized number, RCS enables businesses to deliver rich, branded messaging experiences—with verified business identities—all within the recipient’s native messaging app, no download required. RCS moves business messaging beyond one-way communication, enabling more dynamic, responsive customer interactions.

Branded Messaging is the first phase of RingCentral’s RCS rollout. Capabilities empower businesses to present a verified, recognizable identity in every message, with their logo, brand name, and tagline displayed directly in the thread. Subsequent phases will add high-quality media, interactive carousels, and one-tap reply options, enabling businesses to move from simple verified messages to fully rich, conversational experiences. Whether sending appointment reminders, service alerts, or promotions, businesses using branded messaging drive higher engagement and build customer recognition at scale. Get started here.

“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,” said Dave Michels, Principal and Lead Analyst, TalkingPointz. “RingCentral is among the first wave of major CCaaS providers that natively support RCS, which comes with higher trust and engagement.”

Enterprise Branded Calling

Launched last year, RingCentral also offers Enterprise Branded Calling designed to help businesses break through the rising challenge of unanswered calls. When a business using RingCentral places an outbound call, they can display their company name and logo so customers know immediately who is calling and why—driving higher answer rates and more productive conversations from the very first moment of contact.

Together, Branded Messaging and Enterprise Branded Calling give businesses a consistent, verified brand presence across both messaging and voice, ensuring every customer interaction begins with recognition and confidence.

“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, 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.”

International SMS Expansion

RingCentral is expanding global messaging with SMS in the UK and Australia, enabling organizations to extend customer engagement beyond the U.S. with reliable communications that reach the intended recipient. Utilizing mobile numbers for easy integration, customers will now be able to leverage their trusted business number or direct line to seamlessly engage their customers over voice and SMS.

Additionally, RingCentral has launched support for SMS notifications across 190 countries with alphanumeric sender IDs. Through intelligent routing, message fallback capabilities, and strategic carrier partnerships, international SMS offers an average deliverability rate of 98%, maximizing reach for international companies for mission-critical notifications, updates, and marketing campaigns.

“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,” said Ashu Varshney, SVP RingEX Products, RingCentral. “We’re giving businesses the tools to show up with identity, intelligence, and reach across every channel—enabling trusted, reliable engagement at scale.”

RingCentral AI Receptionist™ (AIR) for Shared SMS Inbox & Call Queues

RingCentral is expanding AI Receptionist (AIR) into a cross-channel automation layer that spans both voice and SMS, bringing AI-powered automation into every customer conversation.

Historically focused on voice, AIR now extends into SMS inboxes, enabling businesses to automatically respond to customer inquiries via messaging. By interpreting intent and maintaining context across channels, AIR delivers real-time, accurate responses based on approved business knowledge—creating a unified, always-on experience whether customers call or text.

AIR also integrates with call queues to handle overflow and missed calls, stepping in when agents are unavailable or wait times are high. This ensures customers receive an immediate response instead of being placed on hold or abandoning the interaction, while capturing key details for follow-up.

Key capabilities include:

– Automating responses across both voice and SMS
– Interpreting customer intent and maintaining context across channels
– Handling routine inquiries instantly to reduce response times
– Managing call overflow and missed interactions with AI-powered responses
– Capturing customer needs in real-time for faster, more informed follow-up
– Providing always-on engagement during peak demand or after hours

By extending AI across messaging and call handling, organizations can reduce missed interactions, improve responsiveness, and deliver consistent, high-quality service without increasing operational overhead.

“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, Unified Communications & Collaboration, 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.”

Customer Engagement Bundle (CEB) for Microsoft Teams

RingCentral’s Customer Engagement Bundle (CEB) for Microsoft Teams integrates voice, SMS, intelligent call routing, and AI-powered insights natively within Teams—transforming the platform employees already use into a lightweight contact center. Every interaction is handled, tracked, and analyzed without leaving Teams.

Key capabilities include:

– Voice and SMS conversations managed natively within Microsoft Teams
– Call routing with wait time announcements, queue positioning, and callback options
– Shared SMS inbox and calling workflows for cross-team coordination
– Post-call summaries and insights within Microsoft Teams
– Real-time and historical visibility into customer interactions, with comprehensive tracking of activity, performance, and team effectiveness

“Most organizations aren’t lacking tools—they’re struggling with disconnected systems that break the customer experience,” said Mila D’Antonio, Principal Analyst, Customer Engagement, 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.”

At Brain Health USA, this unified approach has improved responsiveness in high-stakes patient communications: “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, 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.”

Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams

RingCentral is further extending this experience with Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams, delivering global calling natively within the Teams environment. With coverage across 46 countries, integrated messaging and AI capabilities, and centralized provisioning through the Teams Admin Center, organizations can simplify telephony, consolidate providers, and deploy calling in minutes—all backed by RingCentral’s 99.999% uptime reliability.

Together, CEB for Microsoft Teams and Operator Connect transform Microsoft Teams into a complete, globally capable communications and customer engagement platform—powered by RingCentral.

Availability

Branded Messaging, international support for SMS notifications, Customer Engagement Bundle (CEB) for Microsoft Teams, and AIR for SMS inbox & call queues are currently available. RingCentral is accepting registration requests from early adopters for rich media support and Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams. International SMS for AUS is in controlled availability, with UK SMS coming soon. For additional information, please click here.

About RingCentral

RingCentral is a global leader in agentic voice AI–powered business communications, delivering an integrated platform for business phone, SMS, contact center, workforce engagement management, video collaboration, and messaging. As the communications layer connecting businesses and customers, RingCentral is the front door of business communication—applying AI at every phase of the conversation journey: before, during, and after each interaction. Our agentic AI portfolio includes autonomous voice-first AI agents that automate calls, assist in the moment, and analyze every interaction, enabling businesses to work smarter, respond faster, and connect more meaningfully with their customers. Visit ringcentral.com to learn more.

© 2026 RingCentral, Inc. All rights reserved. RingCentral, RingCentral AI Receptionist, RingCentral AIR, and the RingCentral logo are trademarks of RingCentral, Inc.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260430664056/en/

PR Contact:
Mariana Leventis
mariana.leventis@ringcentral.com

Source: RingCentral, Inc.