Why are there badges displayed next to the tabs in the Message Center?

In the Message Center, blue badges and their respective numbers within them, are a visual indication of outstanding messages that need attention based on the scope of search being used for each tab. The badge turns red if a phone (internal) message is marked as urgent or if there are items displayed under the Need Action tab. You can expand the scope of your search from just yourself to other team members or everyone based on user permissions. The Confidential: Include EFR checkbox may also be selected to broaden your results. The keyword search feature searches based on the active tab. Date ranges can also be implemented on the Read and Sent tabs, but are not available on the Unread Phone, Unread Portal, Unread External or Need Action tabs.