RCS can be a powerful tool to collect data from your customers. In this article, we'll discuss how to collect this data for use in your RCS conversations.

Setting up an input

To configure an input, open the Advanced panel (gear icon, top right) and select the Input Config tab. Click + Add assignment.

Next State

At the top of the Input Config panel, select which message to send next after the user responds. You can select an existing message or type the name of one you'll create later.

Assignment fields

Each assignment extracts a value from the user's response and stores it for use in subsequent messages.

Field	Description
From	What to extract from the user's response. Uses template variables: `message.text` or `message.location`.
To	The field name to store the value under. Available in templates as `{{ input.field }}`.
Required	Whether a response is required before proceeding.
Min length	Minimum characters required. Error: "Value must be at least X characters."
Max length	Maximum characters allowed. Error: "Value must be no more than X characters."
Regex Pattern	A pattern the response must match (e.g. `00000` for zip code). Error: "Value does not match required pattern."

You can add multiple assignments to a single Message to collect several pieces of data at once.

From field variables

The From field specifies which part of the user's response to extract:

From	What it captures
`message.text`	What the user typed, or the label of the suggested reply they tapped
`message.location`	Location coordinates if the user shared their location
`message.file`	File metadata if the user sent a file

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The user's message is always available in your templates as {{ message.text }}even without an input assignment. Assignments are only needed when you want to store the value under a specific field name for later use.

Using collected data

When you assign a From value to a field name in To, the value is stored on the conversation context and available in the next Message's templates as {{ input.FIELDNAME }}.

Example: Collect a user's email address

From: message.text
To: email
Next State: confirm-email

In the confirm-email Message template:

Got it! We'll send updates to {{ input.email }}.

Walkthroughs

Collect data via RCS - Step-by-step guide to collecting user text inputs
Create dynamic cards via API - Using a user's location to search for nearby locations