Vonage MoEngage Connector - RCS Channel Guide

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Prerequisites

3. Configure Vonage as a Custom RCS Connector

4. Campaign Configuration

5. Troubleshooting and Log Access

6. How to Get Help

7. For End Users, Campaign Delivery Experience

1. Introduction

Rich Communication Services (RCS) is the modern successor to SMS, enabling richer messaging experiences such as branded sender presentation, delivery and read receipts, high-resolution media, quick-reply and CTA buttons, and structured card layouts on supported Android devices.

This guide walks you through configuring the Vonage MoEngage Connector for the RCS channel in version 2.0. Version 2.0 offers two operating modes: Standalone mode (RCS delivery through the Vonage Messages API) and Conversational Connect mode (RCS delivery through Vonage Conversational Connect). You will register Vonage as a custom RCS service provider in MoEngage, deploy the connector instance on Vonage Cloud Runtime, and launch your first RCS campaign. For an overview of the connector including architecture, key benefits, and the WhatsApp and SMS channel guides, refer to the main Vonage Conversations for MoEngage knowledge base article.

Note on setup overlap: Many of the connector setup steps are common across WhatsApp, SMS, and RCS. Where the RCS setup mirrors the WhatsApp guide (Section 3, Steps 1 to 9 for Conversational Connect mode, or Section 4 for Standalone mode), this guide references those steps rather than repeating them. Only the channel-specific configuration and the MoEngage RCS sender configuration are covered in full here.

2. Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following:

• Access to your Vonage Dashboard (https://dashboard.nexmo.com/private/dashboard) to retrieve your API Key.
• Access to Vonage Cloud Runtime (https://developer.vonage.com/en/cloud-runtime) to deploy the connector instance.
• A Vonage RCS Business Messaging account with a registered RCS agent. RCS agent registration is handled outside the VCR Marketplace flow by your Vonage Customer Success Associate (CSA) or Account Manager.
• Access to Vonage Dashboard Settings (https://dashboard.vonage.com/settings) to obtain your Signature secret (Standalone mode only).
• Admin access to the MoEngage dashboard, with the SMS & RCS channel enabled on your MoEngage tenant.

For Conversational Connect mode, additionally:

• A Conversational Connect account with the RCS channel already configured (RCS account linked to your Conversational Connect account).
• A Conversational Connect application with the Templates and Connect Messaging API capabilities enabled (see the WhatsApp channel guide, Section 3 Steps 1-2, for the shared application creation flow).
• The webhook signature secret from the Conversational Connect Developer Portal.

Note: If you do not yet have an RCS agent provisioned with Vonage, contact your Vonage Customer Success Associate or Account Manager to begin the RCS onboarding process. RCS agent registration and carrier approval is a prerequisite to deploying the connector for the RCS channel.

Parameters you will need

3. Configure Vonage as a Custom RCS Connector

This section walks you through setting up Vonage as a custom RCS service provider on the MoEngage dashboard. As with SMS, the v2.0 configuration is a two-pass flow with a connector admin-panel step in between: you begin in MoEngage, switch to Vonage Cloud Runtime to deploy the connector instance, complete the connector admin panel configuration (bearer token and RCS delivery URL), then return to MoEngage to complete the configuration.

Important: The order of operations matters. Follow the sequence below to avoid rework.

Step 1: Begin RCS Sender Configuration in MoEngage

Log in to the MoEngage Dashboard and create the custom RCS sender:

1. Navigate to Settings > Channels > SMS & RCS.
2. Click the RCS tab at the top of the Sender configuration view.
3. Click "+ Add RCS Sender" at the top right.

Figure 1. RCS Sender Configuration tab in MoEngage.

On the Service Provider selection screen, select the Vonage service provider option.

Figure 2. Selecting the Vonage service provider for RCS sender.

Step 2: Deploy the Connector Instance on Vonage Cloud Runtime

If you have not already deployed a connector instance for this integration, deploy one now. If you have already deployed a shared instance for another channel (for example, WhatsApp or SMS) and the RCS channel was enabled at that time, you can skip to Step 3 and reuse the same bearer token.

2a. Deploy from the VCR Marketplace

In the Vonage Cloud Runtime Marketplace, find the "Vonage Conversations for MoEngage" application and click "Deploy new instance". Select the region, enter your API Key, and choose a name for your application. Then select the operating mode.

Region alignment note (Conversational Connect mode): Conversational Connect is hosted in Europe (Frankfurt) and US (Central) only. Match your Cloud Runtime region to your Conversational Connect region to keep data in the same region.

2b. RCS Channel Configuration during Deployment

When you reach the channel selection step, enable the RCS channel and enter the RCS-specific configuration. The exact configuration depends on the operating mode you chose.

Conversational Connect mode. Enter the RCS account identifier that matches the RCS account linked to your Conversational Connect account.

Figure 3. RCS account entry (Conversational Connect mode).

Standalone mode. Link an RCS account directly to the connector application by assigning an external account. This can be done from the deployment form using the "Assign account" action.

Figure 4. RCS Account assignment in Standalone mode.

Choose Rich Communication Services (RCS) as the external account provider, follow the link to your Vonage Application Configuration to link the RCS account, then paste the linked RCS account identifier into the form and click Select.

Figure 5. Assign external account dialog for RCS.

Figure 6. RCS external account linked to the Vonage application.

2c. Complete the Common Setup Steps

Complete the remaining connector setup steps as documented in the WhatsApp Channel Guide. These steps are identical for RCS. For Conversational Connect mode, follow Steps 4 to 9 of the WhatsApp guide (wait for provisioning, launch the application, log in to the admin panel, note the Conversational Connect webhook URL, configure the webhook in the Conversational Connect Developer Portal, and generate a bearer token). For Standalone mode, follow the equivalent steps in the Standalone Mode section of the WhatsApp guide, ending with generating a bearer token from the admin panel.

Step 3: Complete the RCS Sender Configuration in MoEngage

Return to the MoEngage Dashboard, to the RCS Add Sender flow you began in Step 1, and complete the Sender Details.

3a. Retrieve the API URL from the Connector Admin Panel

The connector admin panel displays the API URL you should use for the RCS sender. Copy the value from the "MoEngage - Instance API URL" field in the admin panel.

Figure 7. API URL displayed in the connector admin panel.

3b. Fill in the Sender Details in MoEngage

In the MoEngage RCS Sender Details form, enter:

• Sender type: Select Transactional, Promotional, or OTP based on your use case.
• Sender Name: A display name for this sender, for example "Vonage RCS Marketing".
• Sender ID: The RCS Sender ID (agent ID) that recipients will see as the source of the message. This must match the registered RCS agent linked to your Vonage account.
• API URL: Paste the API URL copied from the connector admin panel.
• Authorization: Set the value to Bearer <token>, using the bearer token generated in Step 2c.

Figure 8. RCS Sender Details form before configuration.

Figure 9. RCS Sender Details form with API URL and bearer token authorization.

3c. Retrieve the Incoming Messages and Delivery Callback URL

At the bottom of the Sender Details form, MoEngage displays the 

Incoming Messages & Delivery callback URL that the connector should use to post RCS delivery events and inbound messages. Copy this URL, then click Save to commit the sender configuration in MoEngage.

Figure 10. Incoming Messages and Delivery callback URL displayed by MoEngage for the RCS sender.

3d. Enter the Delivery URL in the Connector Admin Panel

Return to the connector admin panel and paste the callback URL into the RCS MoEngage Delivery Tracking URL field. Click "Update configuration" to save.

Figure 11. RCS Delivery Tracking URL entered in the connector admin panel.

The Vonage RCS sender is now fully configured and ready to be used in campaigns.

4. Campaign Configuration

Once the RCS sender is configured, you can create and launch RCS campaigns from MoEngage's campaign builder. The flow mirrors the standard MoEngage campaign creation experience, with the Vonage RCS sender selected as the RCS service provider.

4a. Create a New RCS Campaign

From the MoEngage dashboard, click "+ Create" (or the New Campaign action). In the campaign type picker, expand the RCS section and select the campaign type that suits your use case (for example, One Time for a single immediate or scheduled send, Periodic for recurring sends, or Event Triggered for sends triggered by user events).

4b. Configure Target Users

In the Target users step, configure the campaign name, mobile number attribute, tags, audience selection, and exclusions.

• Campaign name: A descriptive name for the campaign.
• User attribute that stores user's mobile number: Select the attribute that holds each user's mobile number, typically "Mobile Number (Standard)".
• Campaign tags: Optional tags for organization.
• Select audience: Choose "All users" or "Filter users by" to apply segment filters.
• Exclude Users: Optionally exclude segments from the campaign.

Test send tip: Scope the audience filter to a single test user for end-to-end verification before publishing to the full audience. Because RCS falls back to SMS on devices or carriers where RCS is not supported, verify how your message renders on both an RCS-capable and a non-RCS-capable test device where possible.

4c. Configure Content

In the Content step, select your Vonage RCS sender from the dropdown, then compose the RCS message. RCS supports:

• Rich text: Formatted text with personalization placeholders. Use MoEngage user attribute syntax such as {{UserAttribute['Name']}} for dynamic content.
• Media: Images, video, and audio attachments.
• Cards and carousels: Structured card layouts with a title, description, image, and one or more actions.
• Suggested replies and actions: Quick-reply chips and CTA buttons (open URL, dial number, view location, share location, save event).

Figure 12. Configure RCS campaign step showing the Use SMS as fallback option

Note: If you select the SMS as Fallback checkbox, MoEngage first attempts to send the message as an RCS message. If the recipient’s device or network does not support RCS, the message is automatically delivered via SMS.Enter the following details for the fallback SMS:

• From the SMS sender list, select the same sender that you selected for RCS in the Configure RCS Message section. For example, suppose you have configured Sender A and Sender B as both RCS and SMS senders. If you select Sender A as the RCS sender in the Configure RCS Message section, make sure you also select Sender A as the SMS sender in the SMS section.
• In the Message field, enter the content to be displayed in the SMS.
  • If you selected the default template, enter the message to be displayed in the fallback SMS.
  • If you selected a custom template for the fallback SMS, the template is loaded in the UI along with all its field details. For more information, refer to Create Content using Custom Templates.
  • To change the template, click Template actions.

4d. Schedule and Publish

In the Schedule and goals step, configure the send schedule, set any conversion goals, and review the campaign summary. Click "Publish" to launch. MoEngage will begin posting send requests to the connector, which dispatches them through the Vonage Messages API (Standalone mode) or through Conversational Connect (Conversational Connect mode).

4e. Monitor Delivery in Campaign Analytics

The connector forwards RCS delivery status callbacks to MoEngage's Delivery Tracking URL. Events flow into MoEngage's campaign analytics in near real time. In the campaign's Analytics tab, you will see metrics such as Attempted, Sent, Delivered, Read, Failed, and (where applicable) Clicked for tracked URLs and quick-reply button interactions.

You can read more at https://www.moengage.com/docs/user-guide/campaigns-and-channels/sms-mms-and-rcs/rcs/analyze-rcs-campaigns

5. Troubleshooting and Log Access

If RCS messages are not being delivered or the campaign is not behaving as expected, start with the following checks.

Initial checks

• Verify the API URL: Confirm the API URL in MoEngage's RCS sender configuration matches the "MoEngage - Instance API URL" value shown in the connector admin panel.
• Verify the bearer token: Confirm the Authorization header value in MoEngage is in the exact format "Bearer <token>", using a token that has been generated in the connector admin panel and is not expired or revoked.
• Verify the RCS Delivery Tracking URL: Confirm the "RCS MoEngage Delivery Tracking URL" in the connector admin panel matches the "Incoming Messages & Delivery callback URL" displayed in MoEngage's RCS sender configuration.
• Verify the RCS agent registration: Confirm the RCS Sender ID entered in MoEngage matches a registered, approved RCS agent linked to your Vonage account. Unregistered or non-approved agents will be rejected by carriers.
• Verify recipient RCS eligibility: RCS delivery depends on the recipient's device and carrier supporting RCS. Where RCS is not supported, the message may fall back to SMS or fail, depending on carrier and configuration.
• For Conversational Connect mode: Confirm the webhook in the Conversational Connect Developer Portal is active and points at the connector's <instance-url>/webhooks/cc URL, and that the webhook signature secret matches on both sides.
• For Standalone mode: Confirm the Vonage Dashboard "Signed webhooks" signature secret matches the one entered at deploy time.

End-to-End Message Lifecycle

Every RCS campaign send follows four stages. Each stage has its own log source. Work through the stages in order; a failure at any stage prevents subsequent stages from executing.

Stage 1: MoEngage triggers the campaign send. Where to look: MoEngage Dashboard, Campaign Analytics. MoEngage's orchestrator posts a send request to the connector's API URL for each user in the audience.

Stage 2: Connector receives and dispatches. Where to look: Vonage Cloud Runtime, Instances, Your Instance, Logs. The connector receives the send request, authenticates against the bearer token, validates the payload, and dispatches it through the selected mode.

Stage 3: Downstream service delivers the message. Where to look: Vonage Customer Dashboard Message Logs (Standalone mode) or the Conversational Connect Developer Portal (Conversational Connect mode).

Stage 4: Delivery status posted back to MoEngage. Where to look: connector logs and MoEngage Campaign Analytics. The connector translates the RCS status callback into MoEngage's expected RCS delivery format and posts it to the RCS Delivery Tracking URL.

Common error scenarios

6. How to Get Help

Best way (recommended): Vonage Help Center

https://api.support.vonage.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=27404957240092

Select the form titled "Using Vonage Connector", then select your connector, then "Using Vonage Conversations for MoEngage".

What to include (for faster resolution)

Note: For issues that are specific to the MoEngage platform itself (campaign builder behaviour, MoEngage user attribute setup, audience segmentation logic), contact MoEngage Support directly. For issues specific to the RCS agent registration or carrier approval, contact your Vonage Account Manager. MoEngage-platform issues are outside Vonage's support scope.

7. For End Users, Campaign Delivery Experience

End users do not need to perform any configuration. Once the administrator has completed setup, the Vonage MoEngage Connector handles RCS campaign delivery transparently. From the end user's perspective:

• The user receives an RCS message from the brand's registered RCS agent (branded sender), rendered in their default messaging app on an RCS-capable Android device. The message may include rich media, cards, quick-reply buttons, and personalization.
• On devices or carriers where RCS is not supported, the message may fall back to SMS with the same text content, subject to the brand's fallback configuration.
• If the user taps a quick-reply button or a suggested action, the click event is captured and forwarded to MoEngage as an inbound event in both modes, visible in the campaign analytics and per-recipient user activity log.
• If the user replies STOP (or the configured opt-out keyword), the connector registers the opt-out and syncs this status back to MoEngage. The user is excluded from all future campaign sends until they opt back in.
• If the SMS fallback message includes a shortened tracked URL and the user clicks it, the click event is captured and surfaced in MoEngage's campaign analytics under the Clicked metric.

The Vonage MoEngage Connector operates entirely behind the scenes. End users interact only with the brand's RCS presence in their standard messaging app.