Every ticket undergoes a lifecycle. This lifecycle includes the various stages a ticket passes through from its creation in BoldDesk Support until its closure. These stages are represented by standard ticket statuses. An agent can update a ticket’s status manually, or it can be updated automatically through an automation rule, depending on your account settings. Updating a ticket’s status informs requesters about the progress of their support request and moves the ticket to the next stage of its lifecycle.

This article outlines the ticket lifecycle, the standard ticket statuses, the process of closing tickets, and common lifecycle behaviors.

Benefits of a Defined Ticket Lifecycle

A well-defined BoldDesk ticket lifecycle improves efficiency, enhances customer satisfaction, increases accountability, provides actionable insights, and ensures consistent service delivery. Some of the key benefits are outlined below:

• Improved Operational Efficiency: Standardized workflows help teams handle tickets faster, reduce manual effort, and eliminate bottlenecks.
• Better Customer Experience: Clear status tracking and timely updates keep customers informed and improve satisfaction.
• Clear Ownership and Accountability: Each ticket has a defined owner and status, ensuring responsibility for resolution is clear.
• Accurate Reporting and Analytics: Structured ticket data enables meaningful performance metrics, trend analysis, and informed decision-making.
• SLA Compliance and Timely Resolution: Defined processes and tracking help teams meet service level agreements and resolve issues within expected timelines.

Ticket Statuses

BoldDesk provides a collection of system ticket statuses designed to help manage your ticket workflows. If the available system statuses do not meet your requirements, you can create custom ticket statuses. These statuses represent the various phases of a ticket’s lifecycle.

By default, ticket statuses are categorized into three groups:

Explore How to Customize or Create a New Ticket Status.

Overview of the Ticket Lifecycle

Throughout a ticket’s lifecycle, requesters and agents may need to ask questions and seek clarification. As agents work on tickets, they may change a ticket’s status multiple times. Changing a ticket’s status moves the ticket through different stages of its lifecycle until it is eventually closed.

The image below illustrates the stages of a ticket’s lifecycle:

A ticket does not necessarily move through the stages of its lifecycle in sequential order. Depending on the complexity of the support request, its status category may move back and forth between Pending, Hold, and Closed.

Understanding How Tickets Are Closed

The final stage in a ticket’s lifecycle is Closed. When the requester confirms that the issue has been resolved, the ticket can be closed.

If a requester responds to a closed ticket, BoldDesk performs an action based on the configured settings. Depending on your configuration, BoldDesk can:

• Reopen the ticket by changing its status to Open
• Create a new follow-up ticket
• Take no action

Tickets can be closed manually by requesters and support agents or automatically through automation triggers configured in the agent portal.

If a ticket is reopened, it continues through the same lifecycle stages until the issue is resolved and the ticket is closed again.

Explore How to Close Support Tickets Properly in BoldDesk

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a ticket lifecycle in BoldDesk Support?
   A ticket lifecycle is the set of stages a ticket moves through from creation to closure, represented by ticket statuses.

2. What controls a ticket’s current stage in the lifecycle?
   A ticket’s lifecycle stage is determined by the ticket’s current status, which depends on the status category.

3. Who can update a ticket status?
   An agent may manually update the ticket status, and it can also be changed automatically via automation rules based on the account settings. Additionally, customers have the option to close tickets through the customer portal if this setting is enabled in the Ticket Closure Settings.

4. Do tickets always move through statuses in a fixed order?
   No. Tickets often move back and forth between statuses such as Open, Pending, and On-hold depending on the work required.

5. What is the final stage in a ticket lifecycle?
   The final stage is Closed.

6. Can tickets be closed automatically?
   Yes. Tickets can be closed via automation triggers configured in the agent portal (depending on account settings).

7. What happens if a requester replies to a closed ticket?
   Depending on your configuration, BoldDesk can:

   • Reopen the ticket by changing its status to Open
   • Create a new follow-up ticket
   • Take no action

8. What happens after a ticket is reopened?
   A reopened ticket continues through the same lifecycle stages until the issue is resolved and the ticket is closed again.

Related Articles

1. How to Customize or Create a New Ticket Status
2. How to Close Support Tickets Properly in BoldDesk