The Next and Close & Next buttons are critical for managing the status of your conversations and receiving new customer requests. It’s important to note that the behavior and name of these buttons can vary based on certain scenarios.
Keep in mind that the primary purpose of the Next / Close & Next buttons is to allow Agents to “ask” the Routing Engine to route Customers to them if they have the capacity to help. See Help the Next Customer to understand better how Gladly routes Customers using the Next / Close & Next buttons.

A – Next #
The Next button adjacent to the Availability controls is constant, and the functionality does not change. Clicking the Next option here will always take you to the next Customer request without closing your current Conversation. Use this option if:
- You want to work on a new Customer without closing the Conversation with the current one.
- You want to switch to another Conversation without closing the Conversation with the current one.
See Help the Next Customer to understand better how Gladly routes Customers using the Next / Close & Next buttons.
B – Close & Next / Next / End & Close #
The Close & Next button on the bottom right of the Customer Profile, adjacent to Topics, is dynamic. Depending on the activity and Channel you are working in, the name and function of this button vary.
Close & Next variable names #
The main driver for these variables are the activities completed in the Conversation and the Channel it’s happening in. Gladly then presents the best action after an interaction with a Customer.
Close & Next #
Close & Next appears in Emails, Calls, Tasks, Notes, SMS, and social messaging.
- Closes your current Conversation and gives you the next Customer that needs assistance.
- If you click Close & Next and there is no reply to the Customer, you will be asked to confirm your action to close the Conversation without replying.
- Click the down caret icon to see more options:
- Next – Move on to help the next Customer while keeping the current Conversation open.
- Close – Close the current Conversation without immediately receiving a new Customer to work with.
Next
#
Next only appears for Voicemails.
- Keeps your current Conversation open, and you are assigned a new Customer to work with.
- Click the down caret icon to see more options:
- Close & Next – Close the current Conversation and receive a new Customer to work with.
- Close – Close the current Conversation without immediately receiving a new Customer to work with.
End & Close #
End & Close only appears for Chat.
- Ends and closes the chat Conversation. As long as you are available in the messaging Channel, you will continue to receive incoming chat requests.
- Agents can also use the No Reply Needed option to end a chat that doesn’t require additional follow-up. This will clear the SLA for the chat.
- Click the down caret icon to see more options:
- End – Ends the chat session but doesn’t close the Conversation. This usually means you are not able to solve the request and will require additional follow-up.