A fresh layout for Settings
Settings has a new layout with clearer labels, plain descriptions, and tooltips on the options that need them. Everything is grouped the way you actually use it, and a side menu keeps every page a click away.
Product updates
What’s new in NextMe?
We’re constantly evolving, fine-tuning the platform to keep your virtual queues running as fast and smooth as possible. Explore our update history below, starting with our latest innovations.
Using our native apps? See the release notes on the App Store and Google Play .
2026
Clone and search your settings
You can now clone a location, queue, or custom field and adjust it from there, which makes scaling your configuration quick and easy. Search sits at the top of your Locations, Queues, Custom Fields, and Team lists, so you can jump straight to the item you’re looking for. Helpful for teams with long lists.
Send a custom cancellation message
Turn on a custom cancellation message and your guest hears from you the moment their spot is cancelled, whether you remove one guest or clear a group at once. Write the wording yourself, drop in variables like your business name, and switch it off whenever you want. Find it on the Notification Settings page.
Smaller improvements
- Resend an invitation to a team member who has not joined yet, right from the Team page.
- Filtering your waitlist by a text custom field matches on part of the answer, so “limping” finds the guest who wrote “Limping on front left paw.”
- You can edit a deactivated queue without turning it back on first.
- All bookings-related settings now live on the Bookings page.
Spot your trends at a glance
Analytics now gives you a much fuller picture of your business. Volume, Wait Times, and Messaging each get their own section, every metric card carries a trend line, and four charts sit below the numbers: Visits, By Queue, Wait Times, and Day of Week. Compare any period against the one before it or against the same dates last year, filter the entire page down to a single queue, and export what you need straight from the page header.
Smaller improvements
- Checkbox custom fields are available in the waitlist filter panel.
- The SMS consent checkbox no longer appears on your self check-in form when the Phone field is turned off.
- Pressing Escape with a dropdown open in the Add Guest drawer closes just the dropdown and keeps everything you have typed.
- Changing the queue in Add Guest keeps the custom field answers you have already entered, for fields that exist on both queues.
- Typing over a prefilled name for a returning guest replaces it.
- Completed parties keep their final service time, and editing a party that is in service leaves its timer running.
- A user whose individual account has been disabled sees a message about their own account and who to contact.
- Routine security, privacy, and data retention upgrades behind the scenes.
Legal links on your check-in page
You can now add legal links to the bottom of your self check-in page. Turn on the new Footer setting in Self Check-in Settings to include your Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Your Privacy Choices, Your California Privacy Rights, and Ad Choices, plus any other footer text you want alongside them.
Smoother geofence check-ins
At locations that use a geofence, guests see why check-in needs their location before their browser asks, so they know what they are agreeing to and why. If a guest does run into trouble, the message they see matches their situation, whether their browser is blocking access or their device cannot find them, and trying again keeps everything they have already typed.
Smaller improvements
- Check-in pages now explain clearly when something goes wrong, so guests know whether to retry or wait a moment.
- Your last active queue can no longer be deactivated, so your account always has somewhere for guests to check in.
- Deleting a queue that still has guests in it now prompts you to clear them first.
- Queues holding only completed or canceled guests can be deleted right away.
- Queue, business, and location names now reject web addresses, keeping the messages your guests receive free of unexpected links.
- Edits to custom field answers and guest notes now appear on your board right away.
- Your waitlist displays deactivated queues the same way on every refresh.
- Boards load faster and stay more responsive for businesses running several locations at once.
- Behind the scenes reliability, billing, and performance improvements.
A speed boost for your waitlist
Your waitlist got a performance upgrade, making it quicker and more responsive than ever. Updates land sooner, the board loads faster, and it holds up better at busy locations running many queues at once.
Random draw up to 100 guests at once
Random draw now supports selecting up to 100 guests in a single draw instead of one at a time. Enter how many guests you want to pull and NextMe randomly chooses them for you. Great for product drops and lottery-style events.
Smaller improvements
- Deactivated queues stay on your waitlist while guests are still waiting in them, so you can notify or serve those guests as usual.
- The phone number field on your check-in form now defaults to the country of the location a guest is checking into, so businesses running locations in more than one country get the right default at each one.
- Queue names can now be up to 100 characters, and location and business names up to 50.
- Fixed an issue where changing a guest’s position in line could be dropped without showing an error.
- Fixed an issue where an edit to a custom field could be overwritten while you were still typing.
- Daily visit and wait time stats are more accurate, and previously affected days have been corrected.
- Behind-the-scenes billing, performance, and reliability improvements.
Smaller improvements
- Estimated wait times now load faster for guests checking their place in line, especially at locations running several queues at once.
- Queues that only receive transferred parties now show their real activity in analytics instead of appearing empty.
- Fixed a rare scenario where completed visits could show a higher number than total visits in analytics.
- Invalid phone numbers are rejected right away instead of leaving the check-in form waiting.
Simplified team roles
Collaborating with your team is now smoother and more effortless than ever with our streamlined four-role setup: Owner, Admin, Editor, and User. The addition of the Admin role makes delegation seamless by empowering trusted managers to handle all day-to-day operations (everything an Owner can do) while keeping sensitive billing details and account deletion settings safely restricted. Everyone on your team transitions automatically to this simpler structure, so you can jump right into working together without missing a beat or taking any action on your end.
Smaller improvements
- If you created a new account by mistake instead of joining an existing team, you can now delete it directly from the business setup screen. This immediately frees up your email to accept your team invite without needing a support ticket.
- Reference IDs are now included when you download your waitlist (parties) report.
- Resolved an issue where some new sign-ups could get stuck before account creation was complete.
- Waitlist bulk actions now execute much faster.
A faster, clearer Analytics page
Two new filter presets, Quarter to Date and Year to Date, join the existing options, and the active date range is now displayed next to your Performance Summary so you always know which window you are looking at. A refresh button pulls fresh numbers without a page reload, large counts use thousands separators, and each report tells you whether it follows your selected date range or covers all time.
Smaller improvements
- Behind the scenes bug fixes and improvements, including a fix for the totals row on the queue table and a clearer message when a start date falls outside the available range.
Random draw
Need to pick a winner? You can now draw a random waiting guest and notify them in one click. Open your waitlist in table view, click the dice in the toolbar, and we pick one waiting guest at random from your whole list so you can notify them on the spot. Perfect for giveaways and product drops where fairness is important.
Restore or complete past guests in bulk
You can now restore or complete past guests in bulk. On the History tab in table view, select as many guests as you need and move them back to your waitlist or mark them completed in a single action, rather than one at a time.
Custom field answers in your guests report
Your guests report now includes a column for every custom field you collect, filled in from each guest’s most recent visit. The answers you gather at check-in are right there in the export, with no need to cross-reference the parties report.
Smaller improvements
- Report exports now work reliably for incredibly large accounts, including waitlists with hundreds of thousands of guests.
- Inviting a teammate whose email is already tied to a NextMe account now shows a clear “Email already in use” message.
Large exports arrive by email
Exporting a big waitlist report or guest list from the Analytics page no longer ties up the page or times out. When a report is large enough to take a while (thousands of rows), NextMe now builds it in the background and emails it to you as soon as it is ready. You can also choose which people on your account receive it.
Move several guests into service at once
You can now move several guests into service at once with batch actions, available in your waitlist’s table view. Select the guests you want, open the Actions menu, and choose Service.
Smaller improvements
- Self check-in now recovers smoothly if a queue becomes unavailable while a guest is filling out the form. Instead of hitting a dead end, the guest sees a clear inline message and can pick another option without losing what they already entered.
WhatsApp notifications for guests
Guests can now get waitlist notifications over WhatsApp instead of SMS, giving international guests a reliable option where SMS is restricted or blocked. Guests are prompted to accept a WhatsApp message request before updates start arriving, and can switch back to SMS anytime. WhatsApp is supported on all plans (including free) and is counted the same as SMS against your message limit. Enable WhatsApp at the bottom of your notification settings page.
Bulk actions for your waitlist
Select multiple guests on the waitlist table view and notify or cancel them all at once, instead of one at a time. This is super helpful if you are running a high volume waitlist and need to act on multiple guests at once. A quick confirmation shows exactly how many guests will be affected before anything happens. Additional bulk actions will be coming soon, including sending custom messages and moving guests to in-service. Note, bulk actions are currently only available on web within the table view layout.
Update: bulk actions now work in the iOS and Android apps too. Moving several guests into service at once arrived on July 29, 2026, and sending a custom message to several guests at once is available on request.
Cvent integration
Running events through Cvent? You can now connect your Cvent account directly to NextMe from Integrations and automatically sync your NextMe guests as Cvent contacts. Your line becomes your leads list with no extra work. Reach out to us if you’re interested in using the integration or read more about the strategic partnership. More integrations coming soon.
New waitlist controls
A handful of new settings give you more control over how your waitlist behaves:
- Choose whether actions like notify or remove require a confirmation tap, or happen instantly (web only, coming to the mobile apps soon).
- Decide whether guests who cancel themselves stay visible on your active list or move straight to history (web only, coming to the mobile apps soon).
- Set how many guests show per page in your waitlist table
- The “Getting Close” notification threshold now supports up to 1,000 guests (up from 100)
Update: the confirmation tap and self-cancellation settings now work in the iOS and Android apps too.
Sign in with Google
You can now create an account or sign in using your Google account. Click Sign in with Google or** Sign up with Google** on the login and sign-up pages to get started, no password required. If you already have a NextMe account, your Google account will link automatically the first time you sign in with it, as long as the emails match.
Note: Google Sign-In is currently available on the web only. Mobile app support is coming in the next update. Update: Sign in with Google now works in the iOS and Android apps too.
Customize your self check-in confirmation message
You can now set a custom title and subtitle for the confirmation message guests see after they check themselves in. Head to your Self Check-in Settings page to update the text, or leave it blank to keep the default messaging.
Smaller improvements
- Quick editing lets you edit a custom field directly from the waitlist without an extra click. You can now enable this setting for more than one field (previously limited to one due to layout constraints). When using it across multiple fields, we recommend pairing each one with an emoji so the field is easy to identify on smaller screens when labels are hidden. Note: quick editing is only available for Short Text and Number field types at this time.
- Password fields across sign up, reset password, and change password now show a live requirements checklist as you type.
Table view
You can now switch between a list and table layout on your waitlist. The table view fits significantly more parties on screen at once, especially on smaller screens, making it easier to stay on top of a busy queue without scrolling. All the actions you rely on are available in both views, and your preference is saved automatically. In table view, you can customize which columns are visible using the new Columns button in the toolbar. Show or hide fields like phone number, reference ID, wait time, and any custom fields you’ve set up. Phone numbers are tappable for quick calling.
Table view is launching in beta and is currently only available on tablet and desktop. We’re still refining the experience and adding features, so if you have any feedback reach out to us in the chat and we’d love to hear from you.
An upgraded list view
The list view has been refreshed to make the most of your screen, whether you’re on a desktop or a smaller device. Custom fields now display horizontally so you can see more information at a glance, with a tap-to-expand option when there’s more to show. Status badges are now directly clickable, so you can update a party’s status without opening the edit panel. Queue and time filters have moved to a scrollable row in the header, giving you faster access to different views of your waitlist.
** Tip:** On smaller devices, custom field labels are hidden to keep things compact. You can add an emoji to any custom field in Custom Field Settings. Emojis show at every screen size and make it easy to identify your fields at a glance.
Smaller improvements
- Pagination controls have moved to the bottom of the waitlist to keep the top of the list clear.
- Inactive entries like cancelled and completed parties are now shown with a subtle dimmed style, making active parties easier to spot at a glance.
New metrics, smarter filters and business-wide analytics
We’ve made a number of significant improvements to your Analytics Dashboard. Four new metrics have been added: Messages Sent, Message Delivery Rate, Avg. Messages per Visit, and Cancellation Rate are now visible in both the Performance Summary and Breakdown by Queue table. Several existing stats have also been renamed for clarity. Every stat label has a tooltip with a plain-language description so you always know exactly what you’re looking at. Yesterday and Last 30 Days are now available as preset filter options.
If you manage multiple locations, you can now select All Locations from the location picker to see stats aggregated across your entire business in one view. No more switching between locations to piece together the full picture!
NextMe’s analytics feature is available to businesses on the Business Plan or higher. You can Upgrade Now or Book a Demo if you want to learn more about how our waitlist metrics can help you streamline your operations.
Different settings for each location
If you manage multiple locations, you can now configure key settings independently for each one. From the General Settings page, select a location to set per-location values for expiration threshold, booking display threshold, guest data policy, and repeat guest recognition. Each field shows your business-level default until you override it, and a Reset button lets you revert any location back to the business default at any time.
Smaller improvements
- Dropdowns for changing a guest’s queue and position have been updated with a refreshed look and feel.
Smaller improvements
- Fixed a bug where follow-up messages may not have been delivering reliably under certain conditions. We tightened up our delivery logic to ensure these are now sending as expected.
Smoother access for real users
We added an extra layer to our bot protection flow. If you’re ever flagged unexpectedly during sign-up or while joining a waitlist, you’ll now see a quick captcha challenge instead of a hard block. Pass it, and you’re on your way. It’s rare you’ll see it at all, but it means fewer legitimate users get stuck.
Smaller improvements
- Fixed a bug where queues weren’t appearing immediately after completing business registration. They now show up right away, no refresh needed.
Smaller improvements
- Fixed an issue where the X icon was appearing on Virtual Waiting Rooms for businesses that had never set a Twitter handle.
- This release also includes behind the scenes improvements laying the groundwork for deeper engagement tools on your Virtual Waiting Room.
Smaller improvements
- We’ve updated how we validate notification message content to better protect your deliverability. Messages with excessive capitalization can be flagged as spam by cell carriers before they ever reach your customers. Our updated rules gives you more flexibility to include all-caps brand names, abbreviations, and short codes, while still preventing content that carriers are likely to block.
Faster, more reliable email verification
When new users sign up, email verification now uses a one-time code instead of a link. This makes the sign-up process faster and more seamless, especially on mobile.
Smaller improvements
- Miscellaneous improvements to the experience for users trying to access NextMe on a VPN.
- Team member list now shows status badges so you can see at a glance who’s active, invited, or disabled.
- Twitter/X icon, label, and URL updated across the product.
- Minor layout and display fixes on smaller screens.
- Fixed a bug where the Your Plan page wasn’t loading in the mobile app.
Header navigation enhancements
The header navigation now has a more compact, polished layout so you can find what you need and move between sections more quickly. These changes are designed to better accommodate new nav items and features to come.
Smaller improvements
- Behind the scenes bug fixes and security upgrades.
Waiver capture
You can now require guests to complete a waiver before joining your waitlist! This self check-in feature is compatible with any modern waiver software (Jotform, Smartwaiver, etc.) and takes just a few clicks to set up. This is particularly useful for events and activations with liability requirements.
Head to your Self Check-in Settings page to enable the feature. Click “Enable Waivers” and paste your waiver form URL. Copy the unique redirect URL we generate for you and paste it in the form submission settings of your waiver software (often called the “thank you page” or “redirect settings”). Once enabled, guests will be sent to your waiver URL and redirected back to the waitlist form after they’ve signed.
Pro tip: If you want to prevent guests from having to fill out the same fields twice, you can map your first name, last name, and phone waiver field names. NextMe will then autofill those fields when they return to the waitlist form. Just be sure to copy and paste the updated redirect URL after you’ve added your field mapping.
Queue transfer messages
Transferring guests between queues just got smoother! Our new optional Queue Transfer Message lets you send a customized SMS to guests the moment they’re moved to a new queue. Enable it from your Notification Settings page.
Sidebar enhancements
We’ve updated our sidebar menu! It now includes quick access to Product Updates and System Status, complete with badge indicators so you can easily keep up with new updates. You’ll also find an at-a-glance view of your current plan and usage to help you stay on top of your account.
Smaller improvements
- Fixed an issue preventing Virtual Waiting Room images from being deleted on certain mobile devices.
- Fixed an intermittent issue where the Follow Up Threshold would not save correctly.
- Performed platform-wide package and library upgrades.
Live preview for your virtual waiting room
The Virtual Waiting Room Settings page now includes a dynamic, real-time preview of your waiting room experience so you can see exactly what your guests will see as you build it. This makes it easier than ever to design a polished, on-brand, and engaging waiting room that reflects your business and sets the right expectations before guests arrive.
We’ve also introduced new customization options to give you even more control over your design. You can now adjust the Header Color to match your brand, fine-tune the** Header Height** to create the right visual balance, and update your** Display Name** to ensure your business is presented exactly as you want guests to see it.
Smaller improvements
- Improvements to our error handling on the Self Check-in page.
Alert tone settings
- Play Alert Tones (on by default): When enabled, alert sounds will play for new notifications. Turning this off will mute alert sounds.
- Background Alerts (off by default): When enabled, alert sounds will play even if NextMe is open in a background browser tab. This is helpful for teams that multitask across multiple tabs and don’t want to miss important updates.
Smaller improvements
- Enhancements to our bot protection security layers to help prevent spam and unauthorized access.
- Behind the scenes, we’ve implemented improvements to support more detailed reporting and continued system performance optimizations. These updates help ensure NextMe remains fast, stable, and scalable.
Smaller improvements
- Improvements to the speed at which we refresh the queue counts and estimated wait times.
- Behind the scenes bug fixes and security upgrades.
Smaller improvements
- The Guest Report now automatically splits the guest’s name into “First Name” and “Last Name” columns for easier data mapping when uploading the list into your preferred CRM tooling.
- The country code dropdown on Self Check-In now only shows countries where SMS delivery is currently supported.
- Behind the scenes upgrades to our bot detection mechanisms.
Smaller improvements
- We’ve added some additional data points to your downloadable Analytics reports. The Guest Report now includes “Last Location”, “Last Queue”, and “Guest ID” columns. The** Waitlist Report** now includes “Guest ID”. This “Guest ID” column can be used as a unique identifier to join the reports, if desired.
2025
Smaller improvements
- Greatly increased the speed at which the latest waitlist counts and positions are reflected in the interface. These data points should now be as real-time as possible!
- Revamped the design of our pagination controls to make it easier to navigate waitlists that have a high volume of guests.
- Fixed an intermittent bug where a guest that is transferred to a different queue won’t have a position listed until another guest is added to that queue.
- Fixed an intermittent bug with UK phone number formatting.
Smaller improvements
- Enhancements to our waitlist refresh strategy to pull in new data faster.
- Fixed a bug on VWR settings where if you tried to upload an image with the same file name multiple times, it would throw an error.
- Fixed a visual bug on the SCI geolocation permissions prompt.
Customize your waiting room ready label
You can now customize the “Ready Label” that a guest sees on the Virtual Waiting Room when they have been notified and sent your ready message. By default, we show “Ready for you!”. However, if you’d like this label to be more specific to your workflow, you can edit it by heading to Virtual Waiting Room Settings and updating the “Ready Label” field under Additional Settings. Labels are limited to 75 characters to prevent cluttering the page.
Smaller improvements
- For businesses using our SCI geofence, we’ve updated the location access prompt to be more informative. It now links off to an updated Help Article that can help guide any guests having trouble enabling location services on their device.
Smaller improvements
- Behind the scenes performance improvements to keep your waitlist speedy and responsive.
- Security enhancements to mitigate bot activity.
- Stricter enforcement for queue caps under high volume scenarios.
- Fixed a bug where the grace period countdown was not displaying in the VWR.
Custom field display settings
You can now control which of your Custom Fields appear on the waitlist. To change the display setting of a custom field, head to your Custom Field Settings page and click edit on a field. Toggle off the new “Display on Waitlist” setting and hit “Save”. Your field will still be captured but will no longer appear or take up space on the waitlist. This can be helpful in decluttering your waitlist.
Smaller improvements
- When filtering the waitlist by status, you can now easily “Select All” or “Deselect All” statuses.
- The Virtual Waiting Room now displays “Cancelled” at the top of the page when a guest is cancelled to make it clear that they are no longer in line.
Limit repeat joins
You can now easily prevent guests from joining the waitlist more than once by turning on our new Limit Repeat Joins setting in Self Check-in Settings. When enabled, guests who try to join the waitlist with the same phone number will be prevented from joining again. Guests will be able to join again once their existing party has expired off the waitlist (when the Expiration Threshold is reached).
Smaller improvements
- Miscellaneous UX improvements to the Analytics page.
Smaller improvements
- Version upgrades for many of our packages/libraries.
- Fixed an intermittent delay with queue counts. Counts should now update immediately in real-time.
- Fixed a bug where Daily Service Caps were resetting at 12:00am UTC time. They should now reset at 12:00am in your local timezone.
- Bookings are now excluded from Getting Close messages.
- Getting Close messages are now sent a maximum of one time per guest.
- Removed references to “business” on a few guest-facing screens to better accommodate event customers.
Checkbox fields
We’ve added support for a new “Checkbox” custom field type. This gives you the flexibility to add multiple checkboxes to your Self Check-in form (newsletter opt-in, additional terms, waivers, etc.). When creating your checkbox field, you can define if it’s optional or required and can conveniently insert URL links into the label. Please note, checkbox fields are displayed in the order that they are shown in your Custom Fields list. If you’d like your checkbox at the bottom of your form, be sure to drag it to the bottom of the list.
Disclaimer text
You can now enable “Disclaimer Text” in your Self Check-in Settings to show a customizable blurb right above the “Submit” button of your form. This text can be helpful for linking your privacy policy, data retention policies, or any other content you’d like to highlight for your guests prior to form submission. When writing your disclaimer text, you can conveniently insert URL links in the field using the “Insert Link” button.
Smaller improvements
- Fixed a bug where the “Total Service Time” column was being logged as 0 in the waitlist report.
- Fixed an intermittent bug where new custom fields couldn’t be assigned to queues until after the field was created.
Spot repeat guests on your waitlist
Repeat guests are now indicated with a small checkmark next to their name on the waitlist, helping you quickly distinguish between first visits and repeat customers.
We’ve added a new setting that lets you control which fields you’d like to autofill for repeat guests on the add guest form (autofills data from the prior visit). Your field options are Name (on by default) and Notes (off by default). This setting can be found in General Settings.
Smaller improvements
- Fixed an intermittent bug where grace periods were showing the default value (5m) rather than the value set in settings.
Smaller improvements
- You can now define a “Default Queue” to put guests in if your queue field is turned off for Self Check-in. By default, guests are put in the first queue. You now have the option to set this to a different queue or choose “Next Available” and our system will intelligently put guests in the first queue with available capacity.
- Instead of showing “Not Currently In Line” on the Virtual Waiting Room when a guest is in-service, we now hide the position component entirely to avoid possible confusion.
- We removed app store banners to download our iOS app from all guest-facing pages (Virtual Waiting Room and Self Check-in).
- Miscellaneous other bug fixes and security enhancements.
Guest reply options
You can now control which SMS reply options are available to your waiting guests. By default, Reply ‘1’ to confirm and ‘9’ to cancel are enabled. However, you can turn either off at the bottom of your Notification Settings page if you prefer not to offer these reply options to guests.
Reply '3' to request more time
We’ve added support for an optional new reply option that allows guests to reply ‘3’ to push themselves back a set number of positions in line. This can be helpful if a guest is nearing the front of the line but needs more time. When a guest replies ‘3’ our system will automatically push them back a certain number of positions in line. By default, this “Reposition Count” is 5 positions but can be edited to whatever number of positions makes the most sense for your business. The guest will be moved back to a “Waiting” status and receive an SMS confirming that they have been pushed back, which you can also customize. By default, this reply option is not enabled but can be turned on and edited from your Notification Settings page.
Please be aware, it’s up to you to add descriptions in your notifications to let guests know which reply options are available to them. Commonly, these are added at the end of the messages, i.e. “Reply ‘1’ to confirm, ‘3’ to request more time, or ‘9’ to cancel”. These do not get appended automatically.
Smaller improvements
- Added a setting to hide your business name on the Virtual Waiting Room.
- Fixed an intermittent bug where updates to guest names weren’t being saved when joining from the Self Check-in form.
- Fixed a bug where logos couldn’t be uploaded to the public waitlist settings page.
- Fixed a bug where updated timezones weren’t saving on the edit location page.
Getting close messages
You now have the option to automatically send a message to guests when they are nearing the front of the line! This “Getting Close” message can be used to improve operational efficiency by giving guests a heads up to start making their way back. Less time spent waiting on guests to return = more guests served
Enable this message type from your Notification Settings page. Once enabled, you can customize the default message content and edit the “Getting Close Position” which determines which position in line should trigger the message. By default, the message is sent when a guest reaches 3rd in line.
Smaller improvements
- Added a setting to hide the logo/title on the Public Waitlist to help maximize screen real estate on tv displays.
- Updated the default Follow Up Threshold from 12 hours to 2 hours to prevent guests from receiving follow up messages at odd hours.
- Fixed a visual bug where long queue names would get cutoff when transferring guests between queues.
- Fixed a bug where multiple self check-in alerts would occasionally appear for the same guest joining the waitlist.
- Fixed a bug where the “Source” column of the waitlist report was occasionally showing “All” rather than the true join source.
Real-time analytics
We’ve made your Analytics dashboard more real-time! Instead of pulling in new data every 10 minutes, your metrics now update immediately when you reload the page. No more waiting for your wait time data
Smaller improvements
- We gave our onboarding screens a style refresh.
Repeat guest recognition
We’ve launched a new feature for Self Check-in that will prefill the form for your guests with info from their last visit! This can greatly expedite the check-in process and give your repeat guests a more convenient and personalized check-in experience.
How it works:
- A guest inputs their phone number on your form.
- Our system detects if they are a repeat guest or not.
- If they are a repeat guest, our system sends an SMS text to them with a unique code to confirm their identity (2FA).
- Once confirmed, all info from their past visit populates in the form!
Please note, 2FA verification texts sent for identity confirmation are treated as standard messages that count towards your message limit.
How to turn this feature on:
- Head to SCI Settings and confirm you have the “Phone” field enabled for your form (Note, this feature won’t work if you aren’t using the standard phone field).
- Under Additional Settings, toggle on “Repeat Guest Recognition”.
- Click “Save” to confirm your changes.
- You’re all set! Give your form a whirl to confirm the experience.
New custom field settings
We added some additional settings that you can use to customize your custom field behavior:
- Use “Guest Types” to control if you want to capture the field for new guests, returning guests, or both.
- If your field type is “Date” you can now set an age limit on the field. This is useful for validating birth dates.
- If you are using our new “Repeat Guest Recognition” feature, you can now control if you’d like the field to be editable by repeat guests when their form is prefilled. This setting is called “Allow Repeat Guests to Edit Past Info”.
Smaller improvements
- Retitled some custom field settings to be more intuitive.
2024
Reference IDs
A unique 5 digit alphanumeric “Reference ID” is now generated for each guest. You have the option to replace guest names with their Reference IDs on your Public Waitlist and display them in your Virtual Waiting Room for the guest to reference. This can be helpful for businesses who are looking for greater privacy on their public waitlist displays.
Standard SMS terms on self check-in
To remain compliant with evolving SMS regulations and ensure high text message delivery rates, all Self Check-in forms will now have a standard terms checkbox language that guests must accept to opt-in to receive text messages. If your business uses custom terms and conditions, those will be unchanged and remain visible as well.
Smaller improvements
- You can now include “Guest First Name” and “Reference ID” in your text messages as notification variables.
- Fixed a bug where users with the “Employee” role could only access the waitlist at one location. They can now access the waitlist for all locations they are assigned to.
- Fixed a bug where deleted or deactivated queues were showing as blank in analytics.
- Users can now add and edit latitude and longitude coordinates for each location to ensure that the Self Check-in geofence feature behaves properly.
- Follow up message thresholds are now based on when a guest was moved to an “In Service” state instead of when they were added to the waitlist.
Easy queue transfer
We’ve made it easier to transfer guests to new queues after they’ve been added to the waitlist. Simply click the queue name beneath the guest’s name and a dropdown menu will appear. Select the new queue you’d like to assign them to and voila! The guest will be transferred to the new queue without having to go through any additional steps. This can be helpful for businesses with priority triaging needs, multi-queue workflows and those who prefer to assign queues after guests have already joined the waitlist.
Smaller improvements
- Moved the “Position in Line” setting from the Virtual Waiting Room settings to the general waitlist settings.
- Added extra layers of security to prevent SMS messages from being flagged as spam by cellular carriers. These steps will help ensure continued high rates of delivery moving forward.
- Added a new industry for “Tattoo & Piercing”.
- Made it easier for restaurants to add queues beyond our standard top sizes.
Reposition guests on the waitlist
You can now click a guest’s position in line to easily change their position relative to other guests on the waitlist. This can be helpful to prioritize VIP customers or triage higher priority visitors. Once updated, the guest’s new position will reflect on the Virtual Waiting Room.
Drag and drop to reorder queues, custom fields and waiting room images
We’ve made it much easier to change the order of your data. From the settings page, you can now click and drag to reorder your Queues, Custom Fields, and the images on your Virtual Waiting Room.
If you’re using NextMe on your mobile device, make sure you click and drag the field icon to move your elements.
Bookings
Our team is thrilled to announce the much-anticipated launch of our bookings feature! You can now schedule guests in advance and manage them alongside your walk-ins, all in one clean layout. To learn all about how it works, check out our new Bookings article.
Waitlist changes for bookings
To accommodate bookings, we’ve made some updates to the waitlist flow. Here’s a rundown of the changes, including a visual reference:
- The “History” page icon is now represented by a clock rather than a clipboard.
- The “Confirmed” status has been retitled to “Returning” for guests who reply “1” from the ready message.
- The “Notify” button is now yellow instead of green to better match how the notified status appears in the waitlist.
- Waitlist action buttons now have titles on larger devices.
- Waitlist action buttons now vary depending on waitlist status - most notably, we removed the “Notify”, “Service”, and “Cancel” buttons for “In Service” and “Completed” statuses and added a “Restore” button to easily return a guest to the waitlist from the history page.
Faster analytics and new date ranges
We’ve optimized our Analytics page to greatly improve load times! Data should now load much quicker, even for our very high volume businesses. We’ve also added more convenient date range filters so that you can quickly scope your analytics by Today, Last 7 days, Last 14 days, Month to Date, or any custom range you define.
Smaller improvements
- Fixed an issue where position in line was not always appearing on the waitlist cells
- Fixed an error when saving certain user account fields
- Improved the Public Waitlist experience for multi-location businesses
Waitlist filtering
You can now filter your waitlist by guest status and custom fields, making it easier than ever to browse your waitlist by the criteria that matters to you. You can combine filters with search to drill down even further based on your unique needs. To try it out, click the new filter button in the waitlist header (conveniently located next to search and the history toggle). When filters are applied, the button will be blue. You can clear your filters at any time by hitting the “Reset” button in the filters dialog.
Public waitlist
Ever wanted to display your waitlist on a monitor so that guests can check their position in line relative to others? You’re in luck! We’ve added support for a public waitlist display. When enabled, a unique URL link will be generated for your business that presents your waitlist in a simple and clean layout with minimal guest info: first name and last initial, position in line, and queue. Head to the new Public Waitlist settings page to give it a whirl. Your public waitlist link is mobile friendly and can be used in your notification messages or embedded on your website in addition to displaying it on a screen. Waitlist data reloads every 10 seconds.
Editable custom fields on the waitlist
We’ve added support for you to dynamically edit a custom field on the waitlist. Instead of having to go to the edit guest panel to change a field value, you can instead edit the field directly on the waitlist cell and it will save automatically. An example use case would be adding a “Table Number” field for restaurants, which are typically assigned after the guest is already added to the waitlist. Being able to quickly add these on the fly makes for a more efficient workflow.
To try it out, head to your Custom Fields settings page and edit a field. You’ll see a new toggle titled “Make Editable on Waitlist View”. When enabled, this setting makes the custom field appear as editable on the waitlist cell.
Note, there are a few limitations on how you can use this feature at the moment that you should keep in mind if you’re having trouble enabling the toggle:
- This setting is only available for “Number Input” and “Short Text” custom field types at this time.
- You can only make one field editable on the waitlist. This is to avoid cluttering the waitlist and we will be following up with interface changes to allow for multiple fields. Update: you can make more than one field editable since June 10, 2026.
Smaller improvements
- Added a confirmation dialog when changing the guest data policy to “Delete” or “Anonymize” to educate users on the impact these settings have on historical guest data
- Improved the speed at which analytics data loads
Follow-up messages
We’re excited to announce that you can now trigger a follow up message to your guests! Supercharge your guest workflow with our automated SMS follow up messages - collect reviews, offer discounts on future visits, market your socials, and much more.
- To start sending follow up messages, simply add your message content in the designated area under Notification Settings. You’ll need to be on our Business Plan or higher to use this feature.
- Set a Follow Up Threshold to define when you want your follow up message sent. By default, this is 12 hours from the time they were added to the waitlist. Follow up messages will not be sent to your guests who cancel.
- These messages will count towards your plan’s allotted message limit. If at any time you want to stop using follow up messages, simply delete your message content and they will stop firing.
Smaller improvements
- We increased the maximum geofence radius for Self Check-in to 20 miles
International messaging
We’re happy to announce that you can now send SMS text notifications to guests with international numbers! Simply type in the country code or select from the convenient country flag dropdown to add an international number for a guest.
- If you’re a U.S. or Canadian business, it should be business as usual and no action is needed on your part.
- Please note that while all international numbers can receive text messages, some countries limit the ability to send replies. Depending on country of origin, some guests may not be able to confirm or cancel service by replying “1” or “9”.
Smaller improvements
- A guest’s position in line is now shown on the waitlist next to their queue name for convenient reference
- Added support for U.K. addresses on business sign up
- Made significant improvements to search performance and speed
- Added the option for you to delete your user account or NextMe business as a whole without needing to reach out to support
- Increased the maximum file size allowed for logo and VWR uploads. You can now upload images up to 5000 x 5000 px and 10GB
- Increased the QR code resolution generated for your Self Check-in page
Long-term waitlists
We’re excited to announce we now support longer wait times for businesses who need to manage queues of guests who may be waiting for days, weeks, months, or even years.
To make this possible, we’ve introduced a new setting called Expiration Threshold that defines how long guests should remain visible on the waitlist before being cleared. This includes the history page.
- The default setting is 1 day. This means all guests will clear from the waitlist on a rolling basis, 24 hours from the time they join.
- A record of a guest’s wait will still be available in reports and analytics after the expiration threshold is reached, however they will not appear on the waitlist in order to keep your waitlist focused and fresh.
If your business wants guests to appear in the waitlist for a longer or shorter period of time, you can now easily update this setting from 1 day to whatever time frame is appropriate. For example, if you’re running a home service business, healthcare clinic or tattoo studio you might set this to 1 month to accommodate people who are waiting for a future service. If you’re a high volume restaurant, you might set it to 12 hours so that past guests are cleared more frequently.
Guest data policies
We strive to be good stewards of data at NextMe and have launched a new privacy option to help businesses operate in compliance with internal or external privacy requirements (HIPAA, GDPR, SOX, etc). Your business can now set a Guest Data Policy that gives you control over the amount of data our platform stores about each guest. Your options are “Retain”, “Anonymize” and “Delete”. Learn more about each option by reading this article.
Smaller improvements
- Updated our timestamps across the board so they automatically split into larger units (minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years)
- Expanded our “Estimated Wait Time” dropdown options to include time periods ranging up to 10 years
- Added support for a “Time Input” custom field so businesses can capture formatted timestamps from guests (For example, departure time or appointment time)
- Fixed a bug where setting a new wait time method could take up to four hours to reflect on the waitlist. New wait time methods now reflect immediately
- Fixed a bug where Canadian zip codes weren’t accepted on the sign up form
Queue assignment field
We’ve added support for a new custom field type called “Queue Assignment” that allows you to automatically assign a guest to a queue based on their field answer. This is particularly helpful for the restaurant industry to capture both party size while assigning guests to a table top size. We’ve made this field flexible so it can be used by other industries and customized based on the use case.
- This field replaces the standard queue selector field when added and you won’t be able to use both at the same time.
- You are limited to adding one Queue Assignment field for your business.
Guest notes on the waitlist
Added notes display to the waitlist. These will appear under the guest status:
Smaller improvements
- Fixed a bug where disabling waitlist hours was throwing an error on self check-in.
Turn waitlist hours on or off
We’ve added support for disabling waitlist hours if you’d like your self check-in page to be joinable at all times.
Smaller improvements
- Fixed a bug where the 12:00 AM hour wasn’t saving properly for waitlist hours
- Cleaned up the cancellation flow to be more intuitive
2023
Analytics dashboard
Head to your Analytics page to check out your new dashboard. By default, the dashboard shows data from the past 7 days. This can be easily adjusted using the date filters at the top if you want to view data for the past month, year, etc. We’ll be continuing to build useful metrics into this dashboard over time so stay tuned for future updates.
- Performance Summary includes high level metrics about how your waitlist is performing.
- Waitlist Metrics shows a breakdown of your metrics by queue.
- Reports gives you the ability to download your data for further analysis.
Smaller improvements
- Fixes to ensure the accuracy of wait time stats displayed beneath each queue
- Improvements to our position in line logic
- Entries are now cleared from the waitlist 24 hours after they were added, instead of the waitlist clearing at a set time each day. We’ll be following up to allow you to customize this. Update: you can set how long guests stay with the Expiration Threshold, added February 26, 2024.
- Bug fix to allow users to set any self check-in waitlist hours
- Removed 5m minimum grace period requirement
Your grace period in the ready message
Your grace period is how many minutes your waiting guests have to return to your business once they’ve been notified. By default, this is 5 minutes but it can be changed in your Notification Settings.
Head to Notification Settings and type @ to insert the grace period variable into the message. Note that the “minutes” unit is included by default. Your content should look something like, “Please check in within
{{gracePeriod}}”
A grace period countdown in your virtual waiting room
Once notified that their service is ready, guests will now see a countdown on your Virtual Waiting Room indicating how much time they have left to return. This will help remind guests to return in a timely fashion, increasing throughput and efficiency. This setting is enabled by default but can be turned off from your Virtual Waiting Room settings, simply toggle off “Display Grace Period Countdown”
Your guests' estimated wait in your virtual waiting room
Show your guests what their original quoted wait time was along with the time they joined. This is not a countdown but a static display to prevent setting the wrong expectation if the wait is longer than originally estimated. This setting is disabled by default but can be turned on from your Virtual Waiting Room settings, simply toggle on “Display Estimated Wait Time”
Smaller improvements
- Improvements to the adding and editing of queues
- Support for additional account-related emails
- Misc. bug fixes and quality of life updates
Time zones and timestamps in analytics reports
If you’re using our Analytics tool to export reports, we’ve updated all of the timestamps to respect your specific Time Zone. In addition, we reformatted all timestamps to make them easier to parse and use with Google Sheets and Excel.
Date custom fields
You can now add a date picker field to your intake and self check-in forms. This is particularly useful in capturing a guest’s date of birth, document dates, or whatever data matters most to your business. Read more about Custom Fields to learn how to add a date field to your intake process.
Geofence radius for self check-in
If you’re using our powerful Self Check-in feature to let guests join the wait themselves, you can now set a custom geofence radius between 0.5 and 10 miles. Guests will only be able to join the wait when they are physically nearby your business. This can be useful in preventing no shows. As always, this is an optional setting that can be turned on or off to meet your needs.
Tip: You’ll want to update your Location address(es) to make sure we have a valid address to use for geofencing.
Smaller improvements
- Improvements to the accuracy of our wait time algorithms
- Search performance optimizations (more to come)
- Misc. bug fixes and quality of life updates
Ready to give your customers a better way to wait?
Try NextMe free for 14 days or book a demo with one of our onboarding specialists.