How to Send an RCS Message in LeadLocate

There is no RCS button to find. You send a text the normal way, and the platform delivers it as RCS when the customer's phone accepts it and as SMS when it does not.

1. Open the text composer

   From the lead record, open the text conversation, or click Send a Text in the top bar, or open Messaging and click New Text Message. There is no separate RCS screen; the ordinary composer is the RCS composer.

2. Pick the customer

   If the number is not filled in, type it in To or search by name with Contact Lookup. The message is logged on the lead you pick.

3. Write the message

   Type in Write your message... or pick a saved message under Select a Template. Write it as you would any text; what changes is how it renders on the customer's phone, not what you type.

4. Add the rich part if you want one

   RCS earns its keep with pictures and vehicles. Click Insert a vehicle from your inventory to drop a unit in with its photo and price, or Attach file (MMS) for a photo or document. On a phone that takes RCS the picture shows full size; on one that does not, the same message goes as MMS.

5. Send it

   Press Send Text or Send (Enter). The platform checks whether the destination accepts RCS and picks the format. You do nothing different.

6. Read the status

   The bubble shows the same status either way: sent, then delivered, or failed. You will not see a format label on the bubble, and you do not need one; the customer's phone decided, and the reply comes back into the same thread.

You need a LeadLocate CRM login on desktop or in the mobile app and a customer with a mobile number. RCS with SMS fallback is part of the texting stack from the first message on the store's tracking numbers; there is nothing for the store or the user to enable. Whether a given message goes as RCS depends on the customer's side: their phone, their messaging app and their carrier. That is not something you check before sending, because the fallback covers the case where it is not supported.

The rules for who you text are the same as for any text: leads who asked to hear from you, customers who contacted the store first, buyers you are working. The DNC Blacklist applies, a STOP reply stops the thread regardless of format, and the message is logged on the lead either way. The RCS messaging with SMS fallback page explains why the fallback matters more than the format.

On your side: a bubble in the thread with a status that moves to delivered, exactly like a plain text. On the customer's side, one of two things. A phone that supports RCS shows the message in the richer format: a larger picture, the vehicle card with its photo and price, and read and typing indicators inside their messaging app. A phone that does not shows the same words as a standard SMS, and the same picture as an MMS. Either way the customer replies in their normal messaging app and the reply lands in your thread and on the lead.

Nothing about the thread splits by format. The conversation is one thread per customer, the delivery status is one status, and the communications log on the lead is one log. The two way texting inbox page shows the thread view with pictures and status.

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The customer says it arrived as a plain text. Their phone, app or carrier did not accept RCS for that message, so the fallback sent SMS. That is the feature working. The words, the picture and the delivery record are the same; only the rendering differs. There is nothing to fix on your side.

The bubble says failed. The number rejected the message in every format, which usually means a landline, a disconnected line or a wrong number on the lead. Check the validity dot, run the Phone Validator, and call if it is a landline.

The picture looks small on the customer's phone. The message fell back to MMS and the carrier compressed the image. For a photo the customer needs at full size, share it from the File Library as a link, which also records when it was opened.

You want a specific RCS sender configuration for your store. That is available on request, and our team puts it in production for your dealership; ask through contact us.

The step by step guides on texting a customer, sending a picture message and sending a vehicle in a text are all in the LeadLocate Help Center, and every one of them goes out as RCS with SMS fallback without a change to the steps. Texting a list at once runs through Bulk Texting under Marketing Tools on the dock with the same delivery logic. The LeadLocate mobile app sends from the same tracking numbers with the same fallback.

Do not ask a customer whether they have RCS; they mostly do not know, and it does not change what you send. Put the vehicle in the message, because that is where the richer format shows. Keep the words short so they read well either way. And judge a conversation by the reply, not the rendering: a customer who answers a plain SMS in thirty seconds is a better lead than one who reads a rich card and says nothing.

Is there an RCS button in LeadLocate?

No, and you do not need one. Send a text the normal way and the platform delivers it as RCS when the customer's phone supports it and as SMS when it does not.

How do I know if my message went as RCS or SMS?

The thread shows one delivery status either way. The format is decided by the customer's phone and carrier at send time, and the words, picture and record are the same.

Does RCS cost extra or need setup?

It is part of the texting stack on every LeadLocate plan from the first message. A store that wants a specific RCS sender configuration can request it and our team puts it in production.

What happens if the customer's phone does not support RCS?

The same message goes out as a standard SMS, with any picture as MMS, in the same thread with the same status. Nothing is lost and nothing is resent.

RCS with automatic SMS fallback is part of texting on every LeadLocate plan, on desktop and in the app. See it in the pre-recorded demo or start month to month.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.