Messaging

Messaging in Trio handles both one-on-one conversations and group messages sent to many families at once. Open it from Messages, where two underline tabs switch between the two modes.

Inbox and Group Messages tabs

The page header shows two tabs:

• Inbox - one-on-one conversations with students, families, and staff
• Group Messages - messages sent to a set of recipients at once

A numbered badge appears next to the Messages heading and in the sidebar whenever you have unread conversations.

The Inbox

The Inbox is a two-pane layout: the conversation list on the left, the open conversation on the right. On a phone, the list and the conversation stack so you see one at a time, with a back arrow to return to the list.

Starting a conversation

Select New message in the header to open the New Conversation dialog. Choose a Recipient, add an optional Subject, type your Message, and select Send. Conversations are one-to-one - to reach several people at once, use Group Messages instead.

Reading and replying

Select any conversation to open the full thread. Trio marks it as read and shows every message in order, with a checkmark on messages the recipient has read. Type in the reply box at the bottom and select the send button. Unsent text is kept as a draft if you switch to another conversation.

On a computer you can also press Enter to send, and Shift+Enter for a line break. On a phone or tablet the composer follows the messaging apps you already use: Return starts a new line, and the send button is how you send. Emoji come from your device keyboard on a touch screen, so the composer does not show its own emoji button there.

Help me write this

The reply box includes a Help me write this button. Select it to open the Ask Trio assistant pre-set for message drafting, with the recipient in context. Describe what you want to say, and Trio drafts a professional message you can drop straight into the reply box and edit before sending.

Group Messages

Switch to the Group Messages tab to see past group messages and send new ones. Select New Group Message to open the composer.

Choosing recipients

Under Audience, pick who receives the message:

• All families - every family in your studio
• Filtered by criteria - narrow by teacher, day of the week, or both
• Custom selection - hand-pick families and contacts

Select Preview recipients to confirm how many people will receive the message before you send.

Writing and sending

Under Compose, choose your Delivery Channels - In-App, Email / SMS per preference, or both - then add a Subject and write the message in the rich-text editor. When Email/SMS is selected, you can show a plain-text preview to see how the message reads as a text. Select Preview Message to review the full message, then Send Group Message and confirm. Trio reports how many messages were sent.

Text messages (SMS)

Trio can deliver messages by text as well as in-app and email. When you send a group message and choose Email / SMS per preference, families who prefer text receive an SMS. Almost every reply threads back into your Inbox automatically; the few Trio cannot place wait for review on a separate page - see Unmatched replies below. Sending text messages is available on every plan; your monthly SMS allowance scales with your plan (50 on Free, 1,000 on Pro, and 10,000 on Max).

Unmatched replies

A few inbound texts cannot be filed automatically. Those wait for review at /teacher/messages/unmatched, a page titled Moderation Inbox. Only owners and admins can open it - teachers and staff who follow the link are sent back to their dashboard. Nothing in Trio links to the page: there is no sidebar entry, no button on the Messages page, and no notification when something arrives. Bookmark the address if your studio sends texts.

What lands here

Trio holds a reply for review when it knows the reply belongs to your studio but cannot tell where to file it:

• More than one conversation in play - your studio texted that phone number from two or more separate conversations within the last 24 hours, so the reply could answer either one.
• An ambiguous sender - the number is shared by more than one person in your studio, or it belongs to a student who has no account of their own.

A text from a number Trio does not recognize at all never reaches this page. Trio answers it automatically and files nothing in your studio.

Working through the queue

Each entry shows the sender's phone number, the message, how long ago it arrived, and a Media attached badge when the text included a photo. Three actions are offered:

• Attach to thread - file the reply into an existing conversation. When Trio recorded likely conversations, you get one button per candidate labeled with that conversation's subject. When it recorded none, the button is greyed out and explains why on hover: keep the reply as a new thread or discard it instead.
• Keep as new thread - treat the reply as the start of its own conversation rather than part of an existing one. When Trio recognizes the sender, the button names them.
• Discard - clear the entry without filing the reply into a conversation. Use it for wrong numbers, automated replies, and one-word acknowledgements that need no follow-up.

Choosing an action removes the entry from the list. An empty queue reads "No unmatched SMS replies".

Because nothing alerts you, look in from time to time. A parent whose reply is sitting here is waiting on an answer nobody has seen.

Real-time updates

The Inbox updates without a refresh. New messages appear in open threads as they arrive, conversations move to the top of the list when someone replies, and the unread badge updates live.

Related

• Notification Settings - how Trio decides who receives each message
• Events and Recitals - events come with their own invitations
• Ask Trio Assistant - the AI helper behind "Help me write this"