Next and Close & Next Button Behavior

  • Published on Jan 30, 2025
  • 2 minute(s) read
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The Next, Close, and Close & Next buttons are critical for managing the status of your Conversations and receiving new Customer requests. However, the behavior and name of these buttons can vary based on certain scenarios.

Keep in mind that the primary purpose of these 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.

Julie Chang requests a dress size exchange in her Gladly inbox conversation.

Receiving phone calls after clicking 'Close & Next' or 'Next'

If you're available for Voice (the button is green), clicking Close & Next or Next overrides the After Call Work value and routes the next phone call. Clicking Close closes the current Conversation and routes the next call waiting based on the After Call Work value.

A – Next

The Next button adjacent to the Availability controls is constant, and the functionality does not change. Clicking the Next option here always takes you to the next Customer request without closing your 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 based on Channel availability.

B - Close & Next/Next/End & Close

The Close & Next on the bottom right of the Customer Profile, adjacent to Topics, is dynamic. Its name and function vary depending on the activity and Channel you are working in.

Close & Next option adjacent to Topics

Pay attention to your selection! You may be thinking you are clicking Close & Next but are in fact, clicking Next, which would not close your current Conversation. See the variables below for more details.

Close & Next variable namesdo

The main drivers 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 who 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   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 Dropdown menu with options to close or proceed to the next step.

Next only appears for Voicemails.

  • Keeps your current Conversation open, and you are assigned a new Customer to work with.

  • Click   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 chat's SLA.

  • Click   to see more options:

    • End – Ends the chat session but doesn't close the Conversation. This usually means you cannot solve the request and require additional follow-up.

How Routing works

See Capacity Workload for an explanation of how Voice, Messaging, and Mail/Tasks are routed based on Channel Availability.

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