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What do unread, open, and closed SMS conversations mean?

A message in bold with a dot beside it is unread — nobody at your school has opened it yet. Open means the conversation still needs something from you, whether or not someone has read it. Your inbox lands on the Open tab, and Closed holds the conversations someone marked done. Reading a message does not close it, and closing one does not delete it.

Applies to: Owner, Manager, Staff
PLUS Feature: No
Plan: Requires SMS
Last updated: October 10, 2026

Table of Contents

  1. Overview
  2. The two tabs: Open and Closed
  3. Unread is not the same as open
  4. Closing, reopening, and marking read or unread
  5. Who's handling a conversation
  6. Who can see the inbox
  7. FAQ
  8. Related Articles

Overview

The front desk shares one text inbox, and two different questions get asked of it all day. Has anyone looked at this yet? is one question. Is this finished? is a different one. A teacher can read a parent's message about a missed lesson and still owe them an answer an hour later.

Opus1.io answers the two separately. Read and unread track whether a message has been seen. Open and closed track whether the conversation is done.

Why: Nothing falls through the handoff — a message someone glanced at between lessons does not quietly look finished, and a conversation that genuinely is finished does not sit in the queue making the pile look worse than it is.

The two tabs: Open and Closed

Opus1.io Instant Messaging opens on the Open tab. That is your working list: every conversation that still needs something from your school. The Closed tab holds the ones someone has marked as needing no further action.

Closing a conversation does not delete it. It stays in the Closed tab, and you can go back to it whenever you need to.

ℹ️ Note: Closed conversations show as read by default, so the unread marker really only does work on the Open tab.

Unread is not the same as open

An unread message appears in bold with a dot beside it. The bold and the dot go away when someone opens the conversation, or when someone marks it read without opening it — but the conversation stays in the Open tab until a person decides it is finished.

State What it tells you What changes it
Unread Nobody at your school has opened this conversation since the last message arrived Opening the conversation, or marking it ready, or marking it unread again
Read Someone has opened it, or marked it as read without opening. It may still owe the family a reply. Opening the conversation or marking it read.
Open The conversation still needs something from your school Someone closing it
Closed Someone decided no further action is needed Someone reopening it, or a new text arriving

A new text from a family lands in the Open tab with the unread marker on it. Reading it clears the marker and leaves it open, and so does marking it read without opening it.

⚠️ Warning: Unread is your school's own view, not the family's. SMS gives no reliable read receipt, so Opus1.io cannot tell you whether a parent has read what you sent, and the family cannot tell whether you have read theirs. The marker tracks what your staff have opened or marked read, nothing more.

Closing, reopening, and marking read or unread

All four are done from the controls on the conversation in Opus1.io.

  1. Open the conversation from the list.
  2. To mark it finished, use the close control. The conversation moves to the Closed tab.
  3. To bring it back, open it from the Closed tab and reopen it. It returns to the Open tab.
  4. To clear the unread marker without replying, mark it read. The bold and the dot go away and the conversation stays in the Open tab.
  5. To flag something for yourself or the next person on the desk, mark it unread. It goes back to bold with a dot, even though you have read it.

Marking unread is the quiet workhorse here. A teacher covering the desk for 10 minutes can open a message, see it needs the owner, and put it back the way they found it.

A closed conversation also comes back on its own when the family texts again, or when someone at your school sends on that thread.

Who's handling a conversation

Opus1.io can assign a conversation to a member of staff. The conversation then shows who it is assigned to, and you can filter the list down to one person's assignments — including your own — so the shared inbox stops being everybody's problem and nobody's.

Assignment is separate from open and closed. An assigned conversation is still open until someone closes it, and closing one does not unassign it.

If a colleague is already typing a reply, you will see that on the conversation, which saves two people answering the same parent.

Who can see the inbox

Anyone who can open Instant Messaging in Opus1.io sees the same inbox, the same tabs, and the same unread markers.

Role Open Instant Messaging? See unread markers? Close or reopen a conversation?
Owner Yes Yes Yes
Manager Yes Yes Yes
Staff Yes Yes Yes
Limited Staff No No No

Staff see the whole inbox for the selected studio SMS number, not only the families they teach. Families never see Instant Messaging — they text your studio number from their own phones and see an ordinary text thread, with no tabs, no markers, and no sign of who at your school has opened it.

Turning on SMS Instant Messaging for your school is not something an owner or manager does from Settings. Contact Opus1.io and we enable it for you.

FAQ

Can I clear the unread dot without opening the message? Marking it read clears the bold and the dot, leaves it in Open, and sends nothing to the family.

Can I mark a conversation unread again after I've read it? Yes, from the controls at the top of the conversation. It goes back to bold with a dot. This is the cheapest way to leave a note for yourself or for whoever has the desk next.

Does closing a conversation delete it? No. It moves to the Closed tab and stays there. You can find it, read it, and reopen it. Closing is housekeeping, not deletion.

Everything in my Closed tab shows as read. Is that right? Yes. Closed conversations are read by default.

Can a parent tell whether we've read their text? No. SMS has no dependable read receipt in either direction, so the marker only reflects what your own staff have opened in Opus1.io.

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