There are two ways to request new Customers to assist in Gladly.
- Click the Next button adjacent to the Availability Controls, or,
- Click the Next or Close & Next button adjacent to Topics.
Customers that are routed or manually assigned to you appear in your My Customers list.
While the primary purpose of the Next button is to request the next Customer to assist, how Gladly routes Customers depends on the Next button you click.
‘Next’ button adjacent to the Availability Controls #

The Next button here is only clickable if you are available in at least one Channel (e.g., Voice). Click Next to receive Customers waiting in the Channel you made yourself available in from Inboxes you’re assigned to.
- Mail + Tasks – Emails and Tasks routes automatically upon going available for the day or after a break. Click Next adjacent to the Availability Controls to request more as long as you are available in the Mail + Tasks Channel.
- Voice – Phone calls automatically route as long as you are available in the Voice Channel.
- Messaging – Social messages, SMSes, or chats route automatically up to Standard Messaging Capacity configured by Administrators. Click Next to receive more up to the Maximum Messaging Capacity limit configured by Administrators.
‘Next’ or ‘Close & Next’ button adjacent to Topics #

Click Next or Close & Next to receive Customers already assigned to you that need attention (i.e., there’s a new response or update you haven’t seen) on your My Customer list. This button is always clickable regardless of your Channel Availability. If there are no new updates from Customers assigned to you, and you are available to receive new Customers, click Next or Close & Next to receive Customers waiting in Inboxes you’re assigned to from the Channel(s) you made yourself available in.
Tip – Get to know the ‘Close’ and ‘Close & Next’ buttons #
You may see Next, Close & Next, or End & Close as the default buttons, depending on the Channel you’re helping the Customer in. See Next and Close & Next Buttons Behaviors to learn more.
Help the next Customer #
Customer issue is not yet solved but you are ready to work on a new Customer #
Upon sending a response to the Customer, click Next adjacent to the Availability Controls. This keeps the current Conversation open while allowing you to receive a new Customer waiting in an Inbox to help.

- You can also click Next adjacent to Topics. You’ll receive Customers already assigned to you until all of them are helped.

If you want to close the Conversation, click the up caret icon, then click Close & Next.

You’ve solved the Customer’s issues and you’re ready to help a new Customer #
Click Close & Next from the bottom right corner of the Customer Profile. This will mark the Conversation as Closed, then Gladly will route the next Customer that needs attention in your My Customer list.

If there are no Customers that need your attention, then you’re routed a Customer waiting from Inboxes you’re assigned to based on the Channel(s) you’re available in.
You’ve solved the Customer’s issues but you’re not ready to help a new Customer #
You have multiple options to stop any new incoming requests from coming through after you close a Conversation.
- If you remain available on any Channels, you can decline new requests being sent to you. Declining incoming requests will stop Gladly from routing requests to you, but this could impact your Availability-related metrics.
- Toggle your Availability status to make yourself unavailable.
- Click Close on the bottom right corner of the Customer Profile screen by clicking the up caret icon. While this will not immediately route you the next Customer, based on Channel(s) you’re available in, a phone call or chat could still get routed to you.