Back to Glossary

Read Receipts Defined

Read receipts are messaging features that notify the sender when a recipient has opened and viewed their message. Unlike traditional SMS, which offers no delivery or read confirmation beyond basic “delivered” status, read receipts add transparency to communication by confirming engagement.

RCS (Rich Communication Services) supports read receipts, which is one of the key ways it differs from standard SMS. Because RCS brings chat app-like features to native messaging, senders can see when a recipient has opened their message. By providing insight into when messages are seen, businesses can better understand customer engagement and optimize follow-up timing. This feature is especially valuable in customer support, marketing campaigns, and transactional notifications that benefit from knowing whether the recipient has actually read the content.

How to Use it in a Sentence

Our marketing team uses RCS read receipts to confirm when promotional messages are viewed, so we can time follow-ups more precisely and improve conversion rates.

Common Read Receipts FAQs

Standard SMS does not support read receipts; this is a feature of RCS.

They let brands know when customers have seen a message, helping tailor follow-up strategies for better results.

Delivery receipts confirm that a message reached the recipient's device. Read receipts go a step further, confirming the user actually opened and viewed the message. SMS does not support read receipts natively, but RCS does, making RCS a more transparent option for two-way communication.

Yes, read receipts can be tracked in automated campaigns. When supported by the channel, such as RCS, businesses can see which messages were opened and use that data to refine timing, content, and follow-up sequences.

Yes, as long as both sender and recipient use RCS-enabled messaging apps and networks that support it.