The SMS Inbox automatically displays inbound messages as they’re received. It will show all inbound messages that are assigned to you, as an individual User. The SMS Inbox provides you with the following information for each message:
1. Assigned User Filter (use the dropdown arrow to filter the inbox by assigned user name)
2. Object
3. Link to the Record (e.g. Lead, Account, Opportunity, etc.)
4. Date/Time of Message
5. Message Detail
The SMS Inbox works in real-time, automatically loading new inbound messages, so there’s no need for you to click refresh to see if you’ve received any new messages.
You’re able to add the SMS Inbox to the following locations:
- Salesforce Classic Sidebar
- Lightning Experience Home Page
- Salesforce Mobile App
- Service Cloud Console
Note - If you are using Lightning Experience and have ‘My Domain’ enabled, you will also be able to access the SMS Inbox from the Utility Bar, as shown below. You can also configure it to pop open and play a sound when an Inbound SMS is received. This is controlled by a setting within the Configuration section of the Setup & Configuration page:
You can restrict Users from looking at other Users’ Inbox. By default, a User can switch to view another User’s Inbox or All Inboxes. If you want to disable the ability to switch, you can set the ‘Disable User Switch in the SMS Inbox’ field to TRUE. This will remove the ‘Select User’ picklist at the top of the SMS Inbox.
Note - You may need to add this field to your Page Layout.
Instructions on how to add the SMS Inbox to each of these areas are included below.
Add to Lightning Experience
You can add the SMS Inbox to your Home Page in Lightning Experience. To do this, you need to create a custom Home Page via the Lightning App Builder, which you can do by following the instructions below.
Click Setup > Setup Home > User Interface > Lightning App Builder > New > Home Page > Click Next >
Select ‘Standard Home Page > Click Next > Enter Label (Name of Page) > Click Finish
Drag Components onto the Page as required. The ‘SMS Inbox Component needs to be added to the page to provide you with access to the SMS Inbox. To replicate the default Home Page with the SMS Inbox added, set it up as follows:
Click Save > Set this page as the default Home page > Click Next > Click Activate 
Navigate back to the Home Page and you’ll see that you now have access to the SMS Inbox: 
Add to Salesforce Classic
A Custom Component is included that can be added to your Salesforce Classic Sidebar. To add this to the Home Page Sidebar, follow the instructions below:
Click Setup > Customize > Home > Home Page Layouts > Edit
Step 1 - ensure ‘SMS Inbox’ is set to TRUE:
Click Next.
Step 2 - choose where you would like the SMS Inbox to appear in the Narrow (Left) Column:
Click Save.
You can also make your Custom Sidebar Components visible on all pages by following the instructions below:
Click Setup > Customize > User Interface > Set ‘Show Custom Sidebar Components on All Pages’ to TRUE > Click Save 
This will enable you to have your SMS Inbox visible on all pages within Salesforce Classic as per the screenshots below: 
Add to Salesforce Mobile App
If you would like to have the SMS Inbox available from your Salesforce1 mobile app, it’s a simple case of adding it to your navigation menu:
Click Setup > Administer > Mobile Administration > Salesforce1 Navigation > Ensure SMS Inbox in the selected list > Click Save
The SMS Inbox will then be available in the menu options on the Salesforce Mobile App:
Add to Service Cloud Console
If you use the Console within Salesforce.com, you’ll be excited to hear that you’re able to configure the SMS Inbox to work within the Console environment.
First of all, you need to create a Console Component, which you can do by following the instructions below:
Click Setup > Customize > Console > Custom Console Components > New > Enter details as below > Click Save
Next, you need to add the Console Component you’ve just created to the Console:
Click Setup > Create > Apps > Edit your Console App > Add Console_SMS_Inbox to the selected items in the ‘Choose Console Components’ section > Click Save
Now, when you use the Console, you’ll be able to access the SMS Inbox as illustrated below. When you click the record link (e.g. Case, Lead, etc.) it will automatically load the record in a new tab within the Console:
