--- title: How do I check my texts without leaving the page I'm on? description: Read and reply to parent texts in Opus1.io without losing your place. The SMS icon opens a Messages panel beside your schedule or a client profile. --- [Skip to content](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-check-my-texts-without-leaving-the-page-im-on#main-content) English Show submenu for translations ![Opus1-3-icon-color-1.png\]](https://kb.opus1.io/hs-fs/hubfs/Opus1-3-icon-color-1.png?height=50&name=Opus1-3-icon-color-1.png) Open main navigation Close main navigation - English Show submenu for translations - Go to opus1.io Go to opus1.io Hello. How can we help you? - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [opus1io Knowledge Base](https://kb.opus1.io/?hsLang=en) 2. [Communication](https://kb.opus1.io/communication?hsLang=en) 3. [SMS](https://kb.opus1.io/communication?hsLang=en#sms) # How do I check my texts without leaving the page I'm on? ## Read and reply to parent texts without losing your place in Opus1.io. Select the SMS icon in the top right, next to your profile, and a Messages panel opens beside the page you're on, whether that's the schedule or a client profile. The page stays open and moves over to make room. Reply, start a conversation, or close one there, then select the icon again to go back to full width. **Applies to:** Owner, Manager, Staff **PLUS Feature:** No **Plan:** Requires SMS **Last updated:** October 12, 2026 ### **Table of Contents** 1. [Overview](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-check-my-texts-without-leaving-the-page-im-on#overview) 2. [Open the Messages panel](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-check-my-texts-without-leaving-the-page-im-on#open-the-messages-panel) 3. [What you can do in the panel](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-check-my-texts-without-leaving-the-page-im-on#what-you-can-do-in-the-panel) 4. [Close the panel](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-check-my-texts-without-leaving-the-page-im-on#close-the-panel) 5. [When to use the full Instant Messaging page](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-check-my-texts-without-leaving-the-page-im-on#when-to-use-the-full-instant-messaging-page) 6. [Who can use the Messages panel](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-check-my-texts-without-leaving-the-page-im-on#who-can-use-the-messages-panel) 7. [FAQ](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-check-my-texts-without-leaving-the-page-im-on#faq) 8. [Related Articles](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-check-my-texts-without-leaving-the-page-im-on#related-articles) --- **Overview** The front desk is rarely sitting on the inbox when a family texts. You're halfway through moving Thursday's lessons on the schedule, or you're on a client profile answering a billing question, and a parent writes in asking whether Maya can come at 5:00 instead of 4:30. Without the panel, answering means leaving for the Instant Messaging page, finding the conversation, replying, and then finding your way back to the week you were looking at. A few texts an hour adds up to a lot of lost places. The Messages panel in Opus1.io keeps both on screen. The schedule stays on the left, the conversation opens on the right, and you can check whether 5:00 is free while you type the answer. **Why:** Faster, more accurate replies. When the calendar and the text are on screen together, you answer with what's actually open instead of what you remember being open. --- #### **Open the Messages panel** There is nothing to turn on. If your school has SMS Instant Messaging in Opus1.io, the SMS icon is in the top navigation. 1. Stay on the page you're working on, such as the schedule or a client profile. 2. Select the **SMS icon** in the top right of Opus1.io, next to your profile. ![Screenshot 2026-10-12 at 11.36.08 AM](https://kb.opus1.io/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-10-12%20at%2011.36.08%20AM.png?width=432&height=110&name=Screenshot%202026-10-12%20at%2011.36.08%20AM.png) 3. The **Messages** panel opens on the right. The page you were on moves left and gets narrower, and stays open where you left it. ![SMS\_Popout\_Still](https://kb.opus1.io/hs-fs/hubfs/SMS_Popout_Still.png?width=670&height=377&name=SMS_Popout_Still.png) The panel doesn't cover the page. While it's open you can keep working on the left: scroll the schedule, open an appointment, or check a profile, and the conversation stays where it is on the right. --- #### **What you can do in the panel** The Messages panel is the same inbox as the full Instant Messaging page in Opus1.io, not a cut-down version of it. From the panel you can: - **Read and reply** to any conversation on your studio SMS number. - **Switch between the Open and Closed tabs**, and close a conversation once the family's question is answered. - **Start a new conversation** with a family, or with a new number. - **Insert a saved SMS template** into your reply. Anything you do in the panel shows up on the full page and for your teammates straight away. If you close a conversation from the panel, it's closed for everyone, and if you reply, your teammates see the reply in the same thread. For a tour of everything the inbox does, including unread messages, assigning a conversation to a teammate, and scheduling a text, see How do I use SMS Conversations?  --- #### **Close the panel** When you're done, select the **SMS icon** again or click the **x** in the upper right hand corner of the conversation panel. The panel closes and the page you were on in Opus1.io goes back to full width. Closing the panel doesn't change any conversation. A reply you sent is sent, and a conversation you left on the **Open** tab stays open until someone closes it. --- #### **When to use the full Instant Messaging page** The panel is built for quick replies while you're doing something else. When the inbox is the job, for example first thing in the morning, after a snow day, or at shift change, the full page in Opus1.io gives the conversations the whole screen. To open it, go to **Clients \> Instant Messaging**. Bookmarks and links you already use for that page still work. While the full Instant Messaging page is open, the SMS icon in the top right is greyed out. The inbox is already in front of you, so there's no panel to open. Go to any other page and the icon works again. --- #### **Who can use the Messages panel** There is no separate setting or permission for the panel. Anyone who can use Instant Messaging in Opus1.io can open it. Families never see the panel. They text your studio number from their own phones, and your replies reach them from that same number whether you send from the panel or the full page. SMS Instant Messaging is a premium add-on. If it isn't on for your school, the SMS icon doesn't appear, and **Clients \> Instant Messaging** shows an upgrade message instead of the inbox. Opus1.io support turns it on; contact customer.success@opus1.io or [book time with our team here](https://meetings.hubspot.com/brianne-cardona/sms-inquiry?uuid=414d2d74-728d-4cfd-a00c-bfd2bffc8480). --- #### **FAQ** **Is the panel a different inbox from Instant Messaging?** No. It's the same conversations on the same studio number. A reply sent from the panel appears on the full page, and your teammates see it straight away. **Why is the SMS icon greyed out?** You already have the full Instant Messaging page open. Go to another page, such as the schedule, and the icon becomes available again. **Does the family see anything different when I reply from the panel?** No. Your reply goes out from your studio SMS number, exactly as it would from the full page. --- #### **Related Articles** - [How do I use SMS Conversations?](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-use-sms-conversations?hsLang=en) — *a tour of the whole inbox, from the Open and Closed tabs to sending* - [How do I start a new SMS conversation?](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-start-a-new-sms-conversation?hsLang=en) — *texting a family first instead of waiting for them* - [How do I see a family's details while I'm texting them?](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-see-a-familys-details-while-im-texting-them?hsLang=en) — *the family's email, kids and next two classes beside the thread* - [How do I schedule a text to send later?](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-schedule-a-text-to-send-later?hsLang=en) — *writing a reply now and sending it in the morning* - [How do I create SMS templates?](https://kb.opus1.io/how-do-i-create-sms-templates?hsLang=en) — *saving the replies you send most, so you can insert them from the panel* - 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