Hi there,

Our team has now integrated the Community Assistant directly into the product, allowing your applicants to access our chatbot at any time within the app!

The Community Assistant is GovWell's AI chatbot designed to help your applicants find the answers to common questions about permits, applications, and municipal processes.

You can think of it as a virtual help desk to help your applicants with questions they would normally ask your team and through the entire journey on GovWell from start to finish. The Community Assistant is available 24/7!

🔑 Here are some of the key features your community can benefit from while using the Community Assistant:

• Available 24/7: The Community Assistant is always accessible from your municipality's website or GovWell public portal, acting as a virtual help desk for your jurisdiction.

• Trained on local requirements: The Community Assistant is configured and trained to respond to questions based on official sources from your jurisdiction

• Context aware and page-aware context: The Community Assistant automatically determines the correct context and is aware of the contents of the page your applicants are looking at. Then, it can answer questions specific to what they are seeing, such as which steps they need to take to upload revised plans.
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• Provides clickable links: When answering questions, the Community Assistant will respond directly with clickable links to provide the correct forms and resources for faster follow-ups and faster routing into the right application.

• Human in the loop: If the assistant cannot answer a question, it directs applicants to the appropriate contact person in your team.

• Available in any language. The Community Assistant is available in over 80 languages and can automatically detect your language to respond with the appropriate context. The assistant can also translate any page or form into your native language.

For a more detailed outlook of this feature, please check our Help Center article here!

Interested in adding the Community Assistant on your website? Check out our configuration guide here!

Hi there,

We've made some changes that make it easier to record and review payer information when handling payments!

💳 Invoice and Fee Tables

You can now see both who paid and who processed a payment for completed payments. This information will also be included on generated receipts!

✍️ Manual Payments

When manually marking a payment as complete, you can record who paid by selecting a GovWell user or entering contact info for users who aren't signed up yet.

🔗 Finix Integration

If your organization uses Finix, card and ACH payments will have payer information captured as well.

Hi there,

Planning your day just got easier!

Custom columns are now available in your Tasks view. Decide exactly what information matters most to you and see it all at a glance. More flexibility with everything you need in one place!

Hi there,
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We have a pretty exciting update to share with you: Universal Search capabilities have been expanded, allowing you to search for more data types!

Whenever you use the universal search function, you can now search by these data types:

• 🔢 Record ID
• 🏠 Address Name
• ⛰️ Parcel Name
• 🗺️ Searchable GIS Fields
• 📝 Application Content
• 🏷️ Tags
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We want to give a special mention to the brand new Application Content and Tags data types for Universal Search.

📝 Application Content

Universal Search searches within application fields and matches them to your query. For example, if an application contains "Mechanical Work" in its description field, searching for "Mechanical Work" will find that application!

🏷️ Tags

Search by tag name and our search function will find any applications with that tag, making tags even more useful as a way to easily find and identify records!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Hi there,

Our engineers have introduced a handful of of upgrades that will make your Plan Review process even smoother!

✨ General Comments:

Add feedback about the entire plan set using General Comments! You can now provide overall feedback without tying it to a specific item or page in the plans.

🎯 Repositioning Comments:

Placed a comment in the wrong spot? No worries! Simply use the Select tool to move it to the right location.

📏 Curve Measurement Tool:

Quickly measure curved distances – like walls, arcs, or rounded edges – with this new tool.

📂 Move Files in the Plan Set:

Move files in and out of the Plan Review set directly from the Files tab – no need to upload plan files again!

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Hi there,
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We’re thrilled to introduce AutoCheck! AutoCheck is a brand new AI-powered review tool that automatically reviews submitted applications and plan documents with your requirements and best practices in mind, helping you catch issues from the get-go.
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• 👀 For Application Reviewers: Instantly spot missing details or inconsistencies in submitted applications.
• 📝 For Plan Reviewers: Get smart, ready-to-use comment suggestions based on your uploaded plan documents.
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✨Check our video below for a quick tour of this feature!

Grateful to have you with us — here’s to an amazing 2026! ❤️

Hi there!

The Inspection Calendar now allows applicants to book inspections directly from connected individual Inspection Calendars through a clean and intuitive interface.

This gives applicants the autonomy to choose the times that work best for them, while saving your inspectors valuable time that would otherwise be spent coordinating schedules.

🎥 Watch how Direct Calendar Booking for Applicants works in the video below!

💡 Be sure to check this Help Center Article to learn more about the Plan Review Toolkit!

Hi there!

Our Plan Review tools just got even better with two powerful new features to make your reviews smoother and more precise.

Whenever an applicant updates their plans, a “Modified” badge now appears next to any documents that differ from the previous version – helping you instantly identify which files need your attention.
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Take your reviews to the next level with our side-by-side and overlay comparison tools, allowing you to quickly compare plan files against previous versions for a more efficient review process.

🎥 Watch these new Plan Review tools in action in the video below!

💡 Be sure to check this Help Center Article to learn more about the Plan Review Toolkit!

Hi there!

You can now easily track when and how much funds are deposited into your organization’s account using the new Financial Settlement Reporting view!

With this view, you’ll always have clear visibility into ACH settlements deposited by Finix in your organization's bank account, making reconciliation easier and more efficient for your staff.

🎥 Watch the video below to see the Settlements View in action!

💡 Be sure to check this Help Center Article for more details on how to perform Plan Reviews!