Messaging Glossary — Plain-English Definitions
Clear answers to the messaging acronyms and standards every modern business team should understand.
What is RCS?
RCS (Rich Communication Services) is the modern successor to SMS that lets businesses send branded, interactive messages with images, carousels, suggested replies and verified sender identity, while falling back to SMS when the recipient's device doesn't support it.
Read definition10DLCWhat is 10DLC?
10DLC (10-digit long code) is the US carrier framework for sanctioned application-to-person (A2P) SMS sent from standard 10-digit phone numbers, requiring brand and campaign registration so carriers can deliver business messages reliably and at scale.
Read definitionA2P MessagingWhat is A2P messaging?
A2P (application-to-person) messaging is any SMS, RCS or WhatsApp message sent from an automated business system to a consumer, including marketing, transactional notifications, two-factor authentication, appointment reminders and conversational AI replies.
Read definitionAI OrchestrationWhat is AI orchestration?
AI orchestration is the shift from static, rule-based messaging sequences to adaptive, real-time AI decisioning that chooses the next action for each lead — what to say, which channel to use, and when — based on live behavioral signals rather than a fixed flowchart.
Read definitionSignal-Based MessagingWhat is signal-based messaging?
Signal-based messaging is engagement driven by real behavioral cues — reply timing, response delays, silence, opens and intent — rather than fixed, time-based drip schedules, so each message is triggered by what the recipient actually does instead of a predetermined calendar.
Read definitionConversational AIWhat is conversational AI?
Conversational AI is artificial intelligence that conducts natural, two-way dialogue with people across channels like SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, email and voice — understanding intent and responding in context to qualify, route and convert leads, rather than simply broadcasting one-way messages.
Read definitionVoice AIWhat is Voice AI?
Voice AI is artificial intelligence that conducts natural, real-time phone conversations — qualifying leads, transferring calls to a human (warm or cold), and extracting structured data after the call — as part of a multi-channel engagement stack rather than a standalone phone bot.
Read definitionVoice AIWhat is an AI voice agent?
An AI voice agent is software that conducts natural, real-time phone conversations — speaking and listening like a person. Businesses use voice agents to answer inbound calls, make outbound calls, qualify leads, capture information, and hand callers to a human when needed.
Read definitionLead GenerationWhat is AI lead qualification?
AI lead qualification is the use of artificial intelligence to engage new leads, ask qualifying questions, and score their readiness to buy — automatically, within seconds of the lead arriving. Qualified leads route to sales; unqualified ones get nurtured, without manual triage.
Read definitionComplianceWhat is TCPA?
The TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) is a US federal law regulating calls and text messages to consumers. It requires prior consent for automated calls and texts, honors do-not-call requests, and restricts contact to permitted hours — with statutory penalties per violation.
Read definitionOrchestrationOmnichannel vs multichannel: what's the difference?
Multichannel means being present on many channels — SMS, email, WhatsApp, voice — each running separately. Omnichannel means those channels share one conversation: context, history, and memory follow the customer, so switching channels never means starting over.
Read definitionVoice AIWhat is answering machine detection (AMD)?
Answering machine detection (AMD) is technology that determines whether an outbound call was answered by a human or a voicemail system. It lets calling systems respond appropriately — for example, ending the call when voicemail picks up instead of playing a message to a machine.
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