We’ve rolled out a set of improvements across Services (v2) to give businesses more ways to communicate with customers, customize their booking experience, and spend less time configuring their setup.

Here’s what’s new 👇

💬 WhatsApp Notifications for Services

Services (v2) now supports WhatsApp notifications, alongside the existing Email and SMS notification options.

You can configure WhatsApp notifications for different stages of the service booking journey — whether you want to send a booking confirmation, reminder, follow-up, or other appointment communication.

This gives businesses another way to reach customers through the channels they prefer.

✉️ Service & Rental Custom Values in the Email Builder

You can now select Service and Rental custom values directly from the Email Builder when creating your communications.

This makes it easier to personalize emails with relevant booking information without having to manually add or remember custom values.

Simply select the required Service or Rental custom value from the Email Builder and add it to your content.

🗂️ New Top Tabs Layout for Service Categories

You now have more flexibility in how Service Categories are displayed on your booking widget.

Along with the existing category layouts, you can now display categories as Top Tabs, giving customers a clean and convenient way to navigate between different categories while booking.

⚙️ Smarter Default Settings for Booking Pages

We’ve also updated several default settings introduced with the recent Services booking enhancements.

Settings that generally create a better service discovery and booking experience are now preselected by default, so businesses can get started with less configuration.

For example:

• Allow customers to explore other services — Customers who start from a specific service or category booking page can browse and add services from other categories during booking.
• Allow customers to book multiple services — Customers can discover and book multiple services as part of the same booking journey.

These settings can still be customized based on how you want your booking flow to work — we’ve simply made the default experience smarter.

🚀 More Flexibility, Less Setup

From reaching customers through WhatsApp to offering better service discovery on the booking widget, these improvements are designed to make Services more flexible for businesses and easier for customers to use.

🚀 What’s New?

Businesses can now redeem a customer’s Gift Card while collecting payments directly from an appointment — across Meetings, Services, and Rentals calendars.

Previously, Gift Cards could only be redeemed by customers through customer-facing checkout flows. With this update, businesses can apply a customer’s available Gift Card balance when collecting a payment on their behalf, including when charging a saved card or adding a new card.

This brings Gift Card redemption to offline/off-session Calendar payment flows, creating a consistent redemption experience regardless of who initiates the payment.

⚙️ How Does It Work?

To redeem a Gift Card for an appointment:

1. Open the Appointment.
2. Navigate to the Payments tab.
3. Click Collect Payment.
4. Select Charge a Card.
5. Choose Redeem a Gift Card and apply the customer’s available balance.

The Gift Card balance is applied before any remaining amount is charged to the customer’s saved payment method.

🎁 Consistent Gift Card Redemption

Gift Cards now behave the same way whether the customer or the business initiates the payment:

• Full balance available: If the Gift Card covers the entire payment, no additional payment method is charged.
• Partial balance available: The Gift Card is redeemed first, and the remaining amount is automatically charged to the customer’s saved payment method.
• Invalid or unavailable balance: Clear validation messages are shown for invalid, expired, or zero-balance Gift Cards.

This means businesses can confidently accept Gift Cards regardless of who is initiating the transaction.

💳 Better Payment Visibility

Whenever a Gift Card is redeemed:

• Transaction Details clearly show the amount redeemed using the Gift Card.
• For split payments, the Gift Card amount and the amount collected through the other payment method are displayed separately.
• The associated Gift Card Order is automatically updated with the remaining balance after every successful redemption.

What’s New?

Chat Widget now supports AXCRM’s native Speech-to-Speech (S2S) Voice AI agents alongside existing Voice AI agents.

1. S2S and existing Voice AI agents are available within the same Agent dropdown.

2. The Chat Widget automatically identifies the selected agent type and launches the appropriate voice experience.

3. Existing Voice AI agents continue to work as before, with no changes required to the widget UI or embed code.

4. If an existing agent is switched to a supported S2S model, widgets already using that agent update automatically.

5. The existing Chat Widget calling experience remains unchanged, including:

• Two-way audio

• Mute / unmute

• Call status

• End-call controls

1. The S2S SDK is loaded only when a visitor initiates a call with an S2S agent, keeping regular widget loads and existing Voice AI calls unaffected.

How It Works:

1. Enable Speech-to-Speech Voice AI from Labs.

1. Create a new S2S agent or switch an existing Voice AI agent to a supported S2S model.

1. Navigate to Chat Widget → Agent.

2. Select the required Voice AI or S2S agent from the unified dropdown.

1. Save the widget.

2. The widget automatically launches the correct voice experience when a visitor starts a call.

When an existing agent is switched to an S2S model, widgets already linked to that agent update automatically, no re-save, re-embed, or new agent ID is required.

If a cloned agent is used instead, select the new cloned agent within the Chat Widget builder.

Why It Matters:

• Agencies can now use AXCRM’s native S2S Voice AI agents across both phone and website Chat Widget conversations.

• Existing widgets can adopt S2S capabilities without requiring website code changes or widget reconstruction.

• A unified agent picker simplifies configuration by removing the need for separate S2S and Voice AI setup flows.

• Automatic syncing makes it easier to upgrade existing agents to S2S models without manually updating every widget.

• On-demand SDK loading ensures S2S functionality is introduced without impacting standard Chat Widget performance.

Notes:

• Availability: Live in production for agencies with Speech-to-Speech Voice AI enabled through Labs.

• Existing Voice AI agents and widgets remain fully compatible.

• Existing embed snippets do not need to be updated.

👀 What’s New?

We’ve expanded Embedded placement support to all Chat Widget types, giving users greater flexibility over how conversations appear across websites, funnels, landing pages, and other embedded experiences.

Previously, the Sticky / Embedded placement option was available only for Live Chat and Voice AI. Other chat types always appeared as a floating chat bubble in the bottom-right corner, even when the widget was added within a specific section of a page.

Now, users can choose Embedded placement across all supported Chat Widget types and display the complete conversation experience directly within the page.

Embedded placement is now supported for:

• All-in-One Chat
• Email / SMS
• WhatsApp
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Live Chat
• Voice AI

👷‍♂️ How It Works:

1. Navigate to the Chat Widget Builder and select any supported Chat Widget type.
2. Under the widget placement settings, choose between Sticky and Embedded.
3. When Embedded placement is selected, the widget:

• Opens automatically within the page.
• Displays as an always-open inline chat experience.
• Does not show the floating chat bubble.
• Does not display the initial prompt popup.
• Cannot be minimized, keeping the conversation experience visible within the page.
• Uses dimensions optimized for an embedded layout.

4. For All-in-One Chat, visitors can:

• Choose between the available communication channels.
• Navigate between channels without leaving the embedded widget experience.

5. The Chat Widget Builder preview automatically adapts to show the inline experience when Embedded placement is selected.
6. Settings and controls that apply only to floating chat bubbles are automatically hidden when using Embedded placement.

⭐ Why It Matters:

This enhancement gives businesses more control over where and how conversations happen across their digital experiences.

Users can now create dedicated chat experiences within:

1. Landing pages and funnels
2. Website pages
3. AI-powered experiences
4. Contact and support pages
5. Custom embedded layouts

Instead of requiring visitors to interact with a floating bottom-right chat bubble, messaging can now become a native part of the page experience, helping businesses create more intentional and contextual customer journeys.

📝 Notes:

1. Embedded placement is available across all supported Chat Widget types.
2. Embedded widgets remain continuously visible and cannot be minimized.
3. Floating bubble and initial prompt behaviors are automatically disabled in Embedded mode.
4. The builder preview and configuration controls dynamically adjust based on the selected placement.

Summary of the release:

Opportunity Score is now available across Meta, Google, and LinkedIn campaign builders in AXCRM Ad Manager.

After initially launching Opportunity Score for Meta campaigns, we’ve extended the same pre-publish guidance to Google and LinkedIn, with recommendations tailored to each platform and campaign type. Users can now review campaign readiness, identify potential setup issues, and improve their campaigns before publishing, all from the Review screen.

What’s New? :

1. Opportunity Score for Google & LinkedIn

• View a 0–100 campaign readiness score before publishing.

• Campaign health is summarized as Low, Medium, or High.

• Recommendations are adapted to the selected platform and campaign configuration.

1. Platform-aware recommendations

• Google: Reviews relevant areas such as keywords, audience, budget, creatives, tracking, ad schedule, language, placements, bidding setup, and applicable campaign assets.

• LinkedIn: Reviews audience and location targeting, budget, creatives, destination URLs, lead-gen setup, language, and other campaign-specific requirements.

• Only applicable campaign settings are considered based on the selected objective, ad format, and configuration.

1. Prioritized improvement suggestions

• Recommendations are grouped into areas such as Audience, Budget, Creative, Tracking, and Keywords, where applicable.

• Suggestions indicate their potential impact so users can focus on the most important improvements first.

1. Click to review and fix

2. Select a suggestion to navigate directly to the relevant campaign section and make changes faster — consistent with the Meta Opportunity Score experience.

How to Use?:

1. Create or edit a Google, LinkedIn, or Meta campaign in Ad Manager.

2. Complete your campaign setup and move to the Review screen.

1. Open the Opportunity Score panel.

1. Review your overall score and individual recommendations.

2. Click a suggested action to navigate to the relevant campaign setting.

3. Make the required improvements and review the updated score before publishing.

Why This Feature?:

Opportunity Score gives advertisers an additional validation layer before launch, helping them:

• Catch missing or potentially limiting campaign settings earlier.

• Understand which improvements could have the greatest impact.

• Reduce guesswork during campaign review.

• Build better-configured campaigns across all supported advertising platforms.

The score is designed as guidance rather than a guarantee of campaign performance, and recommendations do not automatically modify campaign settings.

Notes:

1. Opportunity Score is available on the pre-publish Review screen.

2. Suggestions vary depending on the platform, objective, campaign type, ad format, and applicable settings.

3. Opportunity Score is advisory and does not guarantee campaign performance.

What’s New?

We’ve made keyword management in Google Ads campaigns faster and more flexible:

• Removed the previous 40-keyword limit for both Positive Keywords and Negative Keywords.

• Added a larger text area to make working with multiple keywords easier.

• You can now bulk paste keywords instead of adding them one by one.

• Bulk paste supports keywords separated by new lines or commas.

• Duplicate keywords and extra blank spaces are automatically cleaned up.

• Choose the required match type and add the keywords together.

How It Works:

1. Go to Ad Manager → Google Campaign → Ad Group.

2. Navigate to the Positive or Negative Keywords section.

1. Type or paste multiple keywords into the keyword field.

2. Separate keywords using new lines or commas.

3. Select the desired match type and click Add.

Why It Matters:

• Managing large keyword lists is now significantly faster. Advertisers can bring existing keyword lists into AXCRM in one go, reduce repetitive manual entry, and build more comprehensive Google Search campaigns without being restricted by the previous 40-keyword limit.

Notes:

1. Available for both Positive and Negative Keywords in Google Ads campaigns.

2. Duplicate and empty keyword entries are automatically removed during bulk entry.

3. Keyword eligibility remains subject to Google Ads requirements.

Overview:

The TikTok Lead Ads integration has been migrated to the Marketplace framework, providing a more secure and scalable foundation for future enhancements. This migration improves how TikTok Lead Ads accounts are connected and managed behind the scenes while maintaining the same experience for existing users. It also lays the groundwork for future multi-account support and advanced TikTok Lead Ads capabilities.

What's New:

• Enhanced Security — TikTok Lead Ads connections now leverage Marketplace authentication flows, improving credential handling and account security
• Future-ready Architecture — The integration now runs on a scalable Marketplace foundation designed to support upcoming TikTok Lead Ads enhancements
• Foundation for Multi-Account Support — This migration enables future capabilities to connect and manage multiple TikTok accounts within the same location
• Seamless Migration — Existing TikTok Lead Ads connections continue to work without requiring users to reconfigure their setup. Currently, older connections would remain in the existing architecture and in future all connections would be migrated without any user action

How It Works:

• Existing TikTok Lead Ads users would be automatically migrated to the Marketplace-based integration once the feature is out of labs.
• New TikTok Lead Ads connections are connected through the Marketplace architecture
• Users can continue using TikTok Lead Ad functionality as before with no changes to their existing workflows
• Future TikTok Lead Ads enhancements will be delivered through this new Marketplace foundation
• Backward compatibility would be maintained and existing workflows would continue working as expected.

Why it matters:

• Stronger security and authentication controls
• Improved reliability and maintainability
• Scalable architecture for future TikTok Lead Ads features
• Foundation for upcoming multi-account TikTok Lead Ads support

Early access:

Users can enable marketplace flow via labs.

Preview:

WhatsApp is rolling out usernames, which let people message a business without ever sharing a phone number. HighLevel added support for this ahead of Meta's rollout, so these customers are captured as contacts automatically from the moment the feature reaches your market.

> Nothing about your existing setup changes. This only affects brand-new inbounds from customers who have turned on a WhatsApp username, and AXCRM already handles those.

What's new

Contact capture for username adopters

• New-customer capture: When a WhatsApp user who has adopted a username messages your business for the very first time (a net-new contact who has never messaged you before), AXCRM creates a contact from their username and business-scoped user ID (BSUID). We built this ahead of Meta's release, so you are ready from day one as usernames roll out to your regions.

What does not change

• Messaging by phone number works exactly as before: Every phone-based conversation continues unchanged. You send and receive on phone numbers with no difference in behavior.

• Contact import is untouched: Importing contacts by phone number works exactly as it does today. Nothing about your import flow changes.

• Existing contacts are unaffected: Your current contacts, their records, and their full conversation history stay intact. No migration, no disruption to running automations.

• The only difference: On a first-time message from a customer who has adopted a username, you will not receive their phone number. AXCRM captures them by username and BSUID so the conversation and the lead are still yours.

How to activate

Nothing to do. Contact creation for username adopters is on automatically. Phone-number messaging, imports, and your existing contacts continue to work as they always have.

Availability

This is in beta with Meta, who are releasing it gradually region by region. Usernames are rolling out first in these markets:

• Algeria, Azerbaijan, Ghana, Libya, Nepal

• Colombia, Dominican Republic, Singapore, Malaysia, Peru

More regions will follow as Meta expands the beta.

Common questions

Do I need to change anything?

No. This works automatically. Your existing setup, contacts, imports, and automations continue exactly as they are.

Does messaging by phone number still work?

Yes, with no change. Every conversation where you have the customer's phone number behaves exactly as it does today.

Does contact import change?

No. Importing contacts by phone number works the same way it always has.

What actually changes, then?

Only one thing. When a customer who has switched on a WhatsApp username messages you for the very first time, WhatsApp does not share their phone number with you. Instead of that lead falling through, AXCRM creates the contact using their username and their BSUID.

Can I message a customer using only their username?

No. A username is a display label, not an address. WhatsApp does not let you look a customer up by username, and it routes messages only by phone number or by the customer's BSUID. So you cannot start a brand-new conversation with someone you only know by username.

Can I reply to a customer who messaged me from a username?

Yes. Once they message you first, AXCRM captures their BSUID, and you can reply and keep the conversation going, following the same WhatsApp session-window and template rules that apply to every conversation.

Can I proactively reach out (cold) to a username-only lead?

No. Because there is no way to resolve a username to a phone number or a BSUID, you cannot initiate an outbound message to a customer you only know by username. You can only message them after they have contacted you, which is when their BSUID becomes available.

What is a BSUID?

A business-scoped user ID. It is a unique identifier WhatsApp assigns to each customer for your business specifically, and it lets you keep messaging that customer even when their phone number is hidden. It is scoped to your account, so it is not a phone number and not shared across other businesses.

Will I still get phone numbers from customers who adopt usernames?

Often, yes. If you have an existing relationship with the customer (for example, you have exchanged messages recently, or they are already in your Meta contact book), WhatsApp continues to share their phone number. The phone number is withheld mainly in the case of a brand-new customer who adopts a username and contacts you for the first time.

Does this affect billing, templates, or my automations?

No. There are no changes to WhatsApp billing, template approval, or your existing workflows and automations.

Is a username permanent?

No. Customers can change their username at any time, which is exactly why it is not used as an identifier. The BSUID stays stable for your business, so your conversation history and automations stay reliable.

Why this matters for your business

Usernames give WhatsApp users phone-number privacy, and adoption is entirely the customer's choice, so you cannot control who uses it. AXCRM added support ahead of Meta's rollout, so as the feature reaches your markets a first-time username inbound is captured automatically rather than slipping past a CRM that cannot read it. You stay ready while other platforms are still catching up.

• Ready ahead of Meta's rollout, so username adopters are captured the moment the feature reaches your market

• No gap in lead capture as customers move to phone-number privacy

• Zero setup and no change to phone-number messaging, imports, or existing contacts, so no operational cost or migration risk to absorb

Keep WhatsApp on, and you are already covered as usernames roll out to your markets.

Resources

• WhatsApp usernames and BSUID: Meta overview

Overview:

The Slack integration has been migrated to the Marketplace framework, providing a more secure and scalable foundation for future enhancements. This migration improves how Slack accounts are connected and managed behind the scenes while maintaining the same experience for existing users.

What's New:

• Enhanced Security — Slack connections now leverage Marketplace authentication flows, improving credential handling and account security
• Future-ready Architecture — The integration now runs on a scalable Marketplace foundation designed to support upcoming Slack enhancements
• Seamless Migration — Existing Slack connections continue to work without requiring users to reconfigure their setup. Currently, older connections would remain in the existing architecture and in future all connections would be migrated without any user action.

How It Works:

• Existing Slacks users would be automatically migrated to the Marketplace-based integration once the feature is out of labs.
• New Slack connections are connected through the Marketplace architecture
• Users can continue using Slack functionality as before with no changes to their existing workflows
• Backward compatibility would be maintained and existing workflows would continue working as expected.

 Why it matters:

• Stronger security and authentication controls
• Improved reliability and maintainability
• Scalable architecture for future Slack features

How to enable:

Users can enable the feature from sub-account labs for early access.

Preview:

6th of August, 2026

If your business operates outside the US, callers used to hear a US-style ringback tone while a call was being forwarded to you, routed through your IVR menu, transferred by Voice AI, or dialed out to them. That mismatch could feel unfamiliar or spammy, causing people to hang up before you even picked up.

We've localized that ringback tone to match the country of the phone number involved, covering inbound call forwarding, outbound calls, IVR call routing, and Voice AI transfers, across 37 countries, so callers hear the tone they expect no matter how the call connects.