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What happens when a contact is not on iMessage?

The message still arrives. Blue Reacher sends the iMessage first, steps down to RCS when the number cannot receive an iMessage, and steps down again to SMS when RCS is not available. One send, one thread, one reply stream back into your CRM, and every message records the channel it actually used.

The ladder resolves at send time rather than at list upload. When a message goes out, the platform checks whether the destination number can receive an iMessage from your line, and routes accordingly. Resolution runs fresh on every send, because people switch phones and swap numbers between campaigns. The full mechanics live on the RCS and SMS fallback page.

You can also know before you send. An iMessage availability check tells you what share of a list will land as blue bubbles, which changes how you write the campaign and what results to expect from it.

What changes between channels is the rich layer, not your message. Read receipts and typing indicators work on iMessage and RCS; SMS carries neither. Media arrives at full quality on iMessage, high resolution on RCS, and compressed on MMS. Your text itself carries across all three intact, and reporting breaks delivery and replies down by channel so you always know what carried what.

Where it earns its keep is the parts of the funnel where reaching everyone matters as much as reaching the best segment. A speed-to-lead text has to arrive inside the first minute whatever number the lead wrote down, and a reminder that only reaches part of the list is a reminder that loses meetings. Fallback keeps those contacts in the same campaign, the same thread, and the same report.

Fallback depth is a setting, per line or per campaign: iMessage only, iMessage plus RCS, or the full ladder down to SMS. It is included in the plan, so your cost does not move with the device mix of your list. The one-sentence version is in the glossary.

Updated August 9, 2026