Dotgo is a global leader in Rich Communication Services (RCS) based in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, building the APIs and cloud platforms needed in a world where every business must have a presence inside messaging apps, just as they have websites and smartphone apps. Dotgo was acquired by Gupshup in 2021, and Pulse 2.0 interviewed Dotgo CEO Dr. Inderpal Singh Mumick to learn more.
Dr. Mumick’s Background
Dr. Mumick obtained a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University. And Dr. Mumick said:
“I started as a research associate at the IBM Almaden Research Center and later joined AT&T Bell Labs as a member of the technical staff. Eventually, I became the Principal Technical Staff Member at AT&T Labs.”
“My work on recursion in SQL influenced the SQL 3 standard, and my contributions to query optimization were adopted by IBM’s DB2 database. Additionally, the Sunrise research project I led at AT&T Bell Labs brought revolutionary changes to billing systems and sparked major initiatives at AT&T and Lucent. I am recognized as an ACM Distinguished Engineer and have been featured in marquee publications.”
“As the CEO of Dotgo, I continue to drive innovation in the field of RCS communications, leveraging my expertise and passion for technology to provide cutting-edge solutions to our clients.”
Formation Of Dotgo
How did the idea for Dotgo come together? Dr. Mumick shared:
“While working with carriers at Kirusa, we started looking at RCS as the next generation of SMS for communicating with customers. At the same time, we found there were several technical and business challenges impacting the adoption of RCS in the ecosystem.”
“With our collective expertise and a shared vision, we decided to address these challenges head-on. Through our unique knowledge of the carrier and messaging ecosystems, we identified the problems and developed the solutions needed to grow RCS amongst carriers, aggregators, and brands. We worked closely with Google to integrate and bring our solutions to market, forging a close partnership with Google.”
“We have also forged strategic partnerships with over 50 carriers across five continents, including prominent names like Orange, Vodafone, Vodafone Idea, Vodacom, Claro, Telefonica, O2, BT, T-Mobile, MTN, Airtel, and Telkom, among many others. Our goal is to empower RCS developers and simplify their journey toward offering effective and engaging customer communication to brands.”
Favorite Memory
What has been Dr. Mumick’s favorite memory working for Dotgo so far? He reflected:
“One of my favorite memories working for Dotgo has been the exhilarating experience of delivering the first RBM traffic in India after our relaunch in February 2023. Witnessing the impact and positive response of businesses and users to our enhanced messaging solutions was truly gratifying, fueling our enthusiasm and commitment to driving the future of RCS communications.”
Challenges Faced
What are some of the challenges Dr. Mumick faced in building the company? Dr. Mumick acknowledged:
“In building our company, we encountered several challenges. To name a few extremely complex ones:
— RCS Reach – Despite experiencing impressive growth and reaching 800 million users, our reach still falls behind that of WhatsApp. While we have achieved reach rates of around 50% in countries like Mexico and Brazil, there are numerous regions where our reach remains below 20%. This lack of critical mass in certain countries poses a challenge to expanding our user base and achieving widespread adoption.
— Lack of Support in iPhones – A major barrier to the complete and seamless adoption of RCS globally is the lack of support for RCS messaging on iPhones. Apple’s absence of support hampers our ability to send RCS messages to iPhone users. Addressing this issue and establishing compatibility with Apple devices is crucial for maximizing the reach and impact of our services.
— Complex Ecosystem – The ecosystem in which we operate is characterized by various carriers, each making decisions regarding adoption, pricing models, policies, and their chosen RCS vendors. While there is a growing standardization around Google in the ecosystem, the pace at which this standardization occurs could be accelerated. The complex decision-making processes among carriers can sometimes lead to delays or inconsistencies, creating additional challenges in building our company.
Overcoming these challenges requires strategic planning, collaboration with industry stakeholders, and continuous innovation. We are committed to addressing these obstacles head-on to ensure the growth and success of RCS communications.”
Core Products
What are Dotgo’s core products and features? Dr. Mumick explained:
“Dotgo offers a range of products that enhance RCS Business Messaging:
— RBM Hub – Our one-stop solution for aggregators, developers, and ISVs, the RBM Hub simplifies RCS monetization by providing a single termination point for delivering RCS traffic to any mobile device across any network worldwide.
— Dotgo MaaP – With Dotgo MaaP, a cloud communication platform, carriers can deploy and monetize RCS quickly without making any changes to their infrastructure. Along with it, Dotgo also provides end-to-end managed services to monetize RBM.
— Bot Store – The world’s first and largest open RCS chatbot directory, enabling consumers to easily find and connect with brands on RCS, maximizing ROI on RCS bot investments.
— RCS Campaign Manager – Run rich media campaigns using customized templates and access campaign analytics on a single dashboard.
— RCS Templates – Dotgo’s Templates ensure security and compliance while preventing malicious links, fraudulent messages, and Spam.
— Universal RCS (URCS) – Reach non-RCS enabled phones with URCS, which sends an SMS with a clickable link, offering an RCS-like experience to the entire smartphone base, including iPhones.
— RichOTP & RichSMS – Upgrade the traditional OTP and SMS experience with a more interactive, engaging, secure, and visually appealing experience featuring brand logos, colors, names, and verified trust marks.
These products and features empower our customers to leverage the full potential of RCS, delivering engaging customer experiences and achieving their communication goals.”
Revenue Model
In terms of revenue, Dr. Mumick revealed that Dotgo operates on a traffic-based model. Customers pay Dotgo based on the traffic carried on its platforms, ensuring a sustainable revenue stream.
Evolution Of Dotgo’s Technology
How has Dotgo’s technology evolved since its launch? Dr. Mumick pointed out:
“1.) Scaling to Billions of Messages – We have invested extensively in scaling our infrastructure and technology to enable us to accommodate the growing demands of our clients. By ensuring scalability, Dotgo can handle the increasing message volumes, processing hundreds of millions of RCS messages each month. Additionally, we have optimized our systems to support a large number of concurrent users, ensuring a reliable and efficient messaging platform.
2.) Connectivity Across the Globe: We strive to provide consistent user experience regardless of geographical location. To achieve this, we have developed close integration with Google’s RCS platform and processes, leveraging their global network and infrastructure, ensuring reliable and efficient message delivery worldwide.
3.) Templates: Templates streamline the message creation process for our clients, allowing them to easily create engaging and personalized RCS messages. We continuously enhance our template library to offer a wide range of options that cater to various industries and use cases.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of Dotgo’s most significant milestones? Dr. Mumick cited the following:
“1.) Merger with Gupshup (2021): One of our major milestones was the merger with Gupshup, a renowned messaging and conversational AI platform. This strategic merger allowed us to combine our strengths and resources, further enhancing our capabilities in delivering innovative RCS solutions worldwide.
2.) Launch of RBM Hub (RCS World, 2022): We successfully launched the RBM Hub, an advanced platform that provides aggregators with comprehensive tools and features to engage their customers through interactive and engaging messaging experiences.
3.) Country-wide Launch of RCS in Nigeria (2022): Through a collaborative effort with industry-leading partners, including Google, MTN, and Airtel, we enabled developers to deliver RCS to all networks in Nigeria through our platform. By providing a single onboarding process, streamlined verification procedures, consistent policies, and a common rate card, we simplified the adoption and implementation of RCS for developers and businesses alike.
4.) Country-wide Launch of RCS in India on Dotgo Platform (2023): In collaboration with Google and VI (Vodafone Idea), we launched RCS messaging country-wide in India. This endeavor expanded the reach and impact of RCS, enabling businesses and users in India to benefit from its advanced messaging capabilities.”
Customer Success Stories
Upon asking Dr. Mumick about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“One of Dotgo’s notable customer success stories is the collaboration with Vodafone-Idea (VI), a leading telecom operator in India. In a thriving market for business messaging, VI aimed to position itself as the leading carrier for RCS across the country.”
“Dotgo played a pivotal role in VI’s success with its expertise in RCS, providing the highly scalable Dotgo MaaP, and managing the RCS service in India.”
“By leveraging Dotgo’s expertise and technology, VI has been able to establish itself as a trusted and reliable RCS messaging provider in the Indian market. This success story showcases Dotgo’s ability to collaborate with telecom operators, enabling them to offer enhanced business messaging solutions and elevate their position in the market.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is Dotgo pursuing? Dr. Mumick assessed:
“With RCS being the next generation of SMS, the market size is expected to be more than double the SMS market, topping $50 billion by 2030. As the demand for richer and more interactive communication experiences continues to grow globally, Dotgo products and services are targeting a TAM of over $10 billion in this huge RCS market.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates Dotgo from its competition? Dr. Mumick affirmed:
1.) Technology: Dotgo prides itself on its cutting-edge technology, which enables the delivery of advanced RCS messaging solutions. Our robust and scalable infrastructure allows us to handle high volumes of RCS traffic, ensuring reliable and efficient messaging experiences for our clients and their customers.
2.) Vision and Passion for RCS: Our vision and deep passion for the potential of RCS in transforming communication experiences drive us to push the boundaries of RCS technology and constantly innovate to deliver exceptional messaging solutions.
3.) Partnerships with Google, Carriers, and Aggregators: Dotgo has established strategic partnerships with Google, major carriers, and aggregators. These partnerships enable us to leverage their expertise, networks, and resources, fostering collaborative efforts in expanding the reach and impact of RCS messaging globally.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of Dotgo’s future company goals? Dr. Mumick commented:
“We aim to expand our presence and operations into Latin America. By entering this region, we can bring the benefits of RCS messaging to businesses and users, unlocking new opportunities for engagement and communication.”
“The other goal is to establish ourselves as the leading provider of RBM (Rich Business Messaging) solutions on a global scale. We aim to surpass the milestone of 10 billion RCS traffic in India and achieve over 50 billion RCS traffic globally, solidifying our position as a trusted and preferred partner for businesses seeking enhanced messaging capabilities.”
Final Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Dr. Mumick concluded:
“Certainly! Let’s discuss the key advantages of RCS messages over traditional SMS:
1.) Secure: RCS messages are encrypted, ensuring a higher level of security and privacy for both businesses and users.
2.) Branded: Each rich message sent through RCS is accompanied by the brand’s logo, enhancing brand visibility and recognition.
3.) Read Receipts: Unlike SMS, RCS messages provide read receipts, allowing senders to know when their messages have been read in addition to delivery receipts.
4.) Click Tracking: RCS messages offer built-in tracking of suggested actions and suggested replies, enabling businesses to measure user engagement and optimize their messaging strategies.
5.) Two-Way Conversations: Users can easily engage in two-way conversations with businesses through RCS, promoting interactive and personalized communication experiences.”
