Everything worth knowing, nothing that isn't.
Multichannel vs omnichannel
Multichannel: you support several channels but each is its own pipeline. The customer gets an order confirmation via SMS, a shipping update via email, and a delivery notification via WhatsApp — three disjoint flows with no shared context. Omnichannel: a single conversation graph spans channels. The customer's reply to the WhatsApp delivery notification updates the SMS-thread state. The fallback for an unread WhatsApp marketing message is an SMS to the same MSISDN 24 hours later.
What good orchestration does
Five things. Reach detection: HLR + WhatsApp account lookup + RCS capability check to know what's deliverable. Cost optimisation: pick the cheapest channel that delivers (RCS often beats SMS in MENA marketing; WhatsApp service replies inside the 24-hour window need no template and are billed per message from 1 October 2026, after a free tier of 1,000 service messages per business phone number per month). Channel preference per user: respect opt-outs and observed engagement. Fallback chains: WhatsApp → SMS → Voice for OTPs; RCS → SMS for marketing. Unified DLR feed: one webhook with one event model across channels.
What it requires under the hood
A unified contact graph (one customer's MSISDN, WhatsApp ID, RCS handle, email all linked). A channel-aware routing engine with per-channel cost and reach data. A single rules layer for opt-in/opt-out across channels. BroadNet's omnichannel product (/products/omnichannel) is built around exactly this — one API, smart channel selection, one consolidated event stream.
What it isn't
It is not just "we support SMS and WhatsApp from one dashboard." That's multichannel UI. Real omnichannel is a routing decision made per message based on live channel data — and it requires you to give the platform the freedom to pick the channel, not pre-decide for it.