The difference between pending and on-hold

Both mean you are waiting. The difference is who you are waiting for, and it changes what your reports and SLAs say.

Both mean you are waiting. The difference is who you are waiting for, and it changes what your reports and SLAs say.

The short answer

• Pending means you are waiting on the customer. You asked a question and cannot go further until they answer.
• On-hold means you are waiting on anyone else: a colleague, a supplier, a delivery, a fix.

Why it is not just labelling

Pending has a behaviour attached: when the customer replies, the ticket moves back to Open by itself. On-hold does not, because a customer replying does not change the fact that you are waiting on a part to arrive.

SLAs and reports also read them differently. Time on Pending is generally not counted against you, since the delay is not yours. Putting a ticket on Pending while you wait for your own supplier therefore hides a delay you should be able to see.

If you do not have on-hold

It is off by default and an admin has to add it. Teams without it push everything onto Pending, and their first-reply and resolution figures end up flattering. Worth checking whether yours is switched on before you draw conclusions from a dashboard.

See also

• The ticket statuses: new, open, pending, on-hold, solved, closed
• Adding the on-hold status