Helpdesk Concepts

Ticket Status

Definition

Ticket status is the field on a support ticket that shows where it is in the resolution process — common values are new, open, pending, on-hold, solved, and closed.

Also known as: ticket statecase status

How it works

When a ticket arrives it's typically new; once an agent picks it up it becomes open. If the agent is waiting on the customer it moves to pending, and if it's waiting on an internal party it may go on-hold. When the issue is resolved it's marked solved and, after a set period with no reactivation, closed.

Different help desks name these states slightly differently, but the shape is the same: a small, ordered set of values that everyone on the team reads the same way, so reporting and automation can act on them.

Why it matters

Status is the backbone of nearly every workflow and metric a help desk runs. SLA timers, routing rules, and dashboards all key off it — which is why an accurate, disciplined use of status directly shapes how reliable your reporting and automation are.

It's also what lets a queue stay manageable: filtering to just open and pending tickets tells an agent exactly what needs attention right now.

Drives SLA timers (an open ticket is on the clock; pending often pauses it)
Feeds backlog, aging, and resolution-time reporting
Triggers automations when a ticket changes state

Frequently asked

What is the difference between solved and closed?

Solved means the agent believes the issue is resolved but the ticket can still be reopened by the customer; closed is a final, archived state that usually can't be reopened — a new ticket would be created instead.

Does pending status pause SLA timers?

In most help desks, yes. Pending (waiting on the customer) typically pauses response and resolution SLA clocks, since the delay is outside the agent's control.

Related terms

Ticket Lifecycle

The ticket lifecycle is the full sequence of stages a support ticket moves through from creation to closure — typically created, assigned, in progress, resolved, and closed..

Ticket Priority

Ticket priority is a field that ranks how urgently a support ticket needs attention — commonly low, normal, high, and urgent — so agents and automations can work the most important issues first..

SLA Policy

An SLA policy is the configured set of rules inside a help desk that assigns service-level targets — like first-response and resolution times — to tickets based on conditions such as priority, channel, or customer tier..

Ticket Aging

Ticket aging is a measure of how long open support tickets have been unresolved, usually grouped into buckets (for example 0–1 days, 1–3 days, 3–7 days, 7+ days) to show where tickets are getting stuck..

Support Ticket

A support ticket is a single trackable record of a customer's request or issue, holding the full conversation and metadata — status, priority, assignee, tags — from when it's opened until it's resolved..

Put these ideas to work

Macha is an AI agent layer that sits on top of the help desk you already run — Zendesk, Freshdesk, Front, Intercom, or Gorgias.

Start Trial