Ticket lifecycle

Ticket statuses 

A ticket may go through six different stages in its lifecycle. The status can be set and updated either manually by an agent or automatically based on business rules (Figure 5). 

Figure 5. Ticket statuses

 The six ticket statuses are defined as:

• New: An agent has not taken the ticket yet. Once the agent updates the ticket from New to Open, it cannot be moved back to New.
• Open: The ticket is assigned to an agent who is working to solve it.
• Pending: The agent needs additional information from the requester or customer to continue solving the ticket. 
• On-Hold: The agent is awaiting additional information or a resolution from a third party. This is an optional status that your admin enables.
• Solved: The issue is solved. A solved ticket is reopened (if necessary) when the requester replies.
• Closed: The ticket is closed by the system and cannot be reopened. A closed ticket is view only and not edited in any way. As a general rule, tickets are closed after four days of being in the solved status with no response. Your admin may adjust this timeframe. 

Ticket workflow example

Let's take a look at an example of how a ticket changes status over time (Figure 6). Your customer writes an email and says, 'Hey, I need help'. This email comes in as a ticket and it is automatically labeled as New. 

You go in as an agent and find this ticket within Zendesk. First thing, you are going to assign the ticket to yourself and let the customer know you are working on it. You might choose to reply to this customer that you are looking into the issue. Maybe the customer did not provide enough information and you would like them to try something first before moving on to the next step. You write a nice helpful response, such as: 'Can you do X, Y, and Z?', and submit the ticket as Pending. A day later the customer replies back and say, 'You know what, this worked, but I cannot figure out this final step'. The ticket goes back to Open status, and you see it back on your dashboard once it is your turn to work on the ticket. You provide the customer with the last steps that they need to follow.

Then you submit the ticket as Solved, and that might be the end of the journey. See how the last move is not actually done by a person, since the Closed status is set by the system.

Figure 6. Ticket workflow example

Knowledge Check

Question: Your group received a ticket from a customer requesting a refund for an order that was delivered late. What action could you take to ensure that the customer receives a prompt response?

A. Issue a refund and let your customer know via public reply.

B. Assign the ticket to an experienced agent.

C. Write an internal note to let them know that you will investigate the issue and set the ticket status to on-hold.