Ticket Lifecycle

Understanding how tickets flow through their lifecycle helps you manage support efficiently. This guide covers status transitions, archiving, and restoration.

Ticket Statuses

Open

Meaning: Active ticket requiring agent attention

Typical scenarios:

New ticket just created
Customer replied to a pending ticket
Issue needs investigation
Work in progress

Next actions: Reply, investigate, assign, resolve

Pending

Meaning: Waiting for customer response

Typical scenarios:

Agent asked for more information
Waiting for customer to try a solution
Follow-up scheduled

Behavior:

SLA timer pauses (depends on policy)
Moves to "On Hold" in Smart Inbox
Returns to Open when customer replies

Next actions: Wait for response, follow up, close if abandoned

Resolved

Meaning: Issue has been addressed

Typical scenarios:

Solution provided and accepted
Issue fixed
Request completed

Behavior:

Remains in resolved for review period
Customer can reopen by replying
Counts toward resolution metrics

Next actions: Wait for confirmation, close, or handle reopen

Closed

Meaning: Ticket is complete and archived

Typical scenarios:

Resolution confirmed
No response after follow-up
Duplicate of another ticket
Spam/invalid request

Behavior:

Removed from active views
Searchable in archives
Customer can still reply (reopens ticket)

Next actions: None (unless customer replies)

Status Flow Diagram

                    ┌─────────────────┐
                    │    Created      │
                    └────────┬────────┘
                             │
                             ▼
                    ┌─────────────────┐
        ┌──────────▶│      Open       │◀──────────┐
        │           └────────┬────────┘           │
        │                    │                    │
        │         Agent      │    Agent           │
        │         replies    │    resolves        │
        │                    ▼                    │
        │           ┌─────────────────┐           │
        │           │    Pending      │           │
        │           └────────┬────────┘           │
        │                    │                    │
        │  Customer          │                    │
        │  replies           ▼                    │
        │           ┌─────────────────┐           │
        └───────────│    Resolved     │───────────┘
                    └────────┬────────┘
                             │ Customer replies
                             │ OR
                             │ Auto-close timer
                             ▼
                    ┌─────────────────┐
                    │     Closed      │
                    └─────────────────┘

Automatic Status Changes

When Customer Replies

Current Status	New Status
Pending	Open
Resolved	Open
Closed	Open (reopened)

When Agent Replies (defaults)

Current Status	New Status
Open	Pending (configurable)
Pending	Pending (no change)

Auto-Close Rules

Configure in Settings → Tickets:

Resolved → Closed: After X days with no activity
Pending → Closed: After X days with no customer response

Manual Status Changes

Changing Status

From ticket detail:

Click the status badge
Select new status
Optionally add a note

Keyboard shortcut:

Press S on a ticket
Choose status
Press Enter

From ticket list:

Right-click ticket
Select Change Status
Choose status

Bulk Status Changes

See Bulk Operations for changing multiple tickets.

Reopening Tickets

Automatic Reopen

When a customer replies to a resolved or closed ticket:

Ticket status changes to Open
Appears in inbox
Previous assignee is notified
Conversation continues

Manual Reopen

Find the closed ticket (search archives)
Open the ticket
Click Reopen Ticket
Status changes to Open

Merging Tickets

When a customer creates multiple tickets about the same issue:

Open the duplicate ticket
Click Actions → Merge Into
Search for the primary ticket
Select merge target
Confirm merge

What happens:

Conversations are combined
Duplicate is closed
Customer sees unified thread
Links are preserved

Splitting Tickets

When a ticket contains multiple unrelated issues:

Open the ticket
Click Actions → Split Ticket
Select conversations to move
Enter new ticket subject
Confirm split

What happens:

New ticket created
Selected conversations moved
Original ticket updated
Both tickets linked

Soft Delete & Restoration

Deleting Tickets

Tickets are soft-deleted (not permanently removed):

Open the ticket
Click Actions → Delete
Confirm deletion

What happens:

Ticket removed from normal views
Still searchable in admin view
Can be restored within 30 days
Permanently deleted after 30 days

Restoring Deleted Tickets

Admin only:

Go to Settings → Deleted Items
Find the ticket
Click Restore
Ticket returns to original status

Ticket History & Audit Trail

Every ticket maintains a complete history:

What's Tracked

Status changes
Assignment changes
Priority changes
Tag additions/removals
All conversations
Internal notes
Edits to ticket fields

Viewing History

Open the ticket
Click Activity or History tab
See chronological list of all changes

Event Details

Each event shows:

What changed
Who made the change
When it happened
Before/after values (where applicable)

SLA Implications

Status affects SLA tracking:

Status	First Response SLA	Resolution SLA
Open	Active	Active
Pending	N/A	Paused (configurable)
Resolved	N/A	Stopped
Closed	N/A	Stopped

See SLA Tracking for details.

Reporting & Metrics

Status transitions affect analytics:

Metric	Calculation
First Response Time	Created → First agent reply
Resolution Time	Created → Resolved
Reopen Rate	Resolved/Closed → Open count
Status Distribution	Tickets per status

Best Practices

Use Pending consistently: Always set to Pending when waiting for customer
Resolve promptly: Move to Resolved once issue is addressed
Don't skip statuses: Go Open → Pending → Resolved → Closed
Add context on changes: Leave notes when changing status manually
Review resolved tickets: Close or reopen promptly
Handle reopens urgently: Customer felt need to follow up

Troubleshooting

"Ticket keeps reopening"

Customer may be replying to old emails
Check if emails are being matched correctly
Consider closing with explanation

"Can't change to Closed"

Some workflows require Resolved first
Check automation rules
Admin may have restrictions

"Status changed unexpectedly"

Check automation rules
Review activity log
May be triggered by customer action

"Merged ticket missing conversations"

Conversations are in the target ticket
Search for the merged content
Check activity log for merge event

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