Ticket State Quick Reference and Best Practices
Incident States
State | Description | SLA | Notifications | Activity / Notes |
New |
Fulfiller creates a new ticket OR New inbound email ticket that has been assigned to a group but otherwise not updated |
Incident Response SLA timer starts Incident Resolution SLA timer starts |
Customer receives notification ticket was created |
Ticket cannot be saved/updated until all required fields (marked with *) are entered. Knowledge articles cannot be attached to a ticket in New state. |
Assigned | Ticket is assigned to an individual fulfiller (Assigned To field) | SLA timers continue | Assignee receives notification ticket has been assigned to them | When Assigned To field is first completed, the ticket will auto-update to Assigned state. For reassignment, the state needs to be manually updated to Assigned. |
Work In Progress | Fulfiller is working on ticket |
Incident Response SLA timer stops Incident Resolution SLA timer continues |
Customer will receive notification ONLY IF Additional Comments field is updated while ticket is in Work in Progress state. Assigned To user will receive notification if someone else (customer or fulfiller) updates Additional Comments or Work Notes while ticket is in Work in Progress state. |
Fulfiller should move Assigned ticket to Work In Progress as soon as they start working the ticket. If ticket is moved from WIP to any other active state, a new Incident Response SLA timer will be triggered and will stop when ticket is placed in WIP (or resolved). All individual response SLAs on a ticket are available for reporting. |
Pending Customer | Fulfiller is waiting on information/response from customer to complete ticket | Incident Resolution SLA timer continues |
Customer will receive notification ONLY IF Additional Comments field is updated while ticket is in Pending Customer state. Assigned To user will receive notification if someone else (customer or fulfiller) updates Additional Comments or Work Notes while ticket is in Pending Customer state. |
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Customer Responded | Customer added an update to the ticket | Incident Resolution SLA timer continues |
Customer will receive notification ONLY IF Additional Comments field is updated while ticket is in Customer Responded state. Assigned To user will receive notification if someone else (customer or fulfiller) updates Additional Comments or Work Notes while ticket is in Customer Responded state. |
Any time a customer enters information on a ticket, the state will automatically update to Customer Responded As soon as fulfiller reviews the customer update, the ticket should be moved out of Customer Responded state and into Work In Progress (or other appropriate state). |
Pending Vendor | Fulfiller is waiting on information/action from vendor to complete ticket | Incident Resolution SLA timer pauses |
Customer will receive notification ONLY IF Additional Comments field is updated while ticket is in Pending Vendor state. Assigned To user will receive notification if someone else (customer or fulfiller) updates Additional Comments or Work Notes while ticket is in Pending Vendor state. |
As soon as vendor action is complete, the ticket should be moved out of Pending Vendor state and into Work In Progress (or other appropriate state). |
Pending Problem | Fulfiller is waiting on problem resolution to complete ticket (i.e. software bug/defect) | Incident Resolution SLA timer continues |
Customer will receive notification ONLY IF Additional Comments field is updated while ticket is in Pending Problem state. Assigned To user will receive notification if someone else (customer or fulfiller) updates Additional Comments or Work Notes while ticket is in Pending Problem state. |
As soon as Problem is resolved, the ticket should be moved out of Pending Problem state and into Work In Progress (or other appropriate state). |
Pending Change | Fulfiller is waiting on a change to complete ticket (i.e. software enhancement/update) | Incident Resolution SLA timer continues |
Customer will receive notification ONLY IF Additional Comments field is updated while ticket is in Pending Change state. Assigned To user will receive notification if someone else (customer or fulfiller) updates Additional Comments or Work Notes while ticket is in Pending Change state. |
As soon as Change is complete, the ticket should be moved out of Pending Change state and into Work In Progress (or other appropriate state). |
Referred | Issue has been referred to a group outside of ServiceNow | Incident Resolution SLA timer pauses | Customer will receive a notification that their ticket has been referred, including Additional Comments from fulfiller. |
Fulfillers need to enter Close Notes and Close code on Referred state. Use Closed Referred close code for accurate reporting. Tickets in Referred state will automatically update to Closed state if there is no response from the customer after 5 days. |
Resolved | Issue has been resolved | Incident Resolution SLA timer pauses | Customer will receive a notification that their ticket has been resolved, including Additional Comments from fulfiller. |
If the issue is not resolved, the customer can reply to the notification to re-open the ticket, which will place it in Customer Responded state. If the customer does not reply within 5 business days, the ticket will automatically move to Closed state. |
Closed | Ticket closed | Incident Resolution SLA timer stops | No notifications are sent when a ticket is closed. If a customer attempts to reply to/update a closed ticket, they will receive a notification that the ticket has been closed with a link to open a new ticket if needed. |
Once an incident is closed, it cannot be reopened or updated. |
Please Note: Incident SLA settings are global and are currently under review.
Request (Request Item / Catalog Task) States
State | Description | SLA | Notifications | Activity / Notes |
Open | New or assigned task generated via Service Catalog, fulfiller, or inbound email | N/A |
Customer receives notification Request Item was created Assigned To user will receive notification when ticket is assigned to them regardless of state. |
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Work In Progress | Task in progress | N/A |
Customer will receive notification ONLY IF Additional Comments field is updated on Request Item or Catalog Task while ticket is in Work in Progress state. Assigned To user will receive notification when ticket is assigned to them regardless of state. Assigned To user will receive notification if someone else (customer or fulfiller) updates Additional Comments or Work Notes on Request Item or Catalog Task while ticket is in Work in Progress state. |
All Additional Comments and Work Notes added to Catalog Tasks transfer up to Request Item and vice versa. |
Closed Complete | Task completed | N/A | Customer will receive notification that ticket has been completed. Assigned To user will receive notification when ticket is assigned to them regardless of state. |
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Closed Incomplete | Task was not completed | N/A |
Customer will receive notification that ticket has been closed. Assigned To user will receive notification when ticket is assigned to them regardless of state. |
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Closed Skipped | Task was not completed and was not needed for the full Request to be completed | N/A |
Customer will receive notification that ticket has been closed. Assigned To user will receive notification when ticket is assigned to them regardless of state. |
Please Note: Request SLAs are specific to the Catalog Item being requested. Currently there are no requests with associated SLAs.