Pausing SLAs

Stop the SLA clock while a ticket is in a "waiting" status — typically waiting on the customer — or while it's blocked by another ticket. Paused time doesn't count toward the target, and the deadline shifts out by however long the ticket was paused.

Status pausing is opt-in No status pauses the clock until an admin chooses one, so nothing changed for anyone on release. (Pausing for tickets blocked by another ticket is the one exception — it's on by default; you can turn it off.)

Why pause the clock

Teams shouldn't be penalised for time outside their control. If a ticket sits for two days waiting on a customer reply, those two days shouldn't eat the SLA. Pausing pairs naturally with business hours — together they make sure the clock only runs when the ball is in your court and you're open.

Choosing which statuses pause the clock

This is an admin task in Settings → Tickets → SLAs, in the "Pause the SLA timer when…" section.

1 Open Settings → Tickets → SLAs and find Pause the SLA timer when…
2 Under Pause on these statuses, tap each status where you're waiting and shouldn't be on the clock — for example On Hold.
3 That's it — the change applies right away. While a ticket sits in any selected status, its SLA timer stops.

The "Pause the SLA timer when…" section showing the "Pause on these statuses" status chips (New, In Progress, On Hold, Reopened) with the waiting statuses selected. sla-pause-statuses.png

How paused time works

Paused time is excluded from the target. If a ticket spends a day in a paused status, its deadline moves out by a day.
The ticket shows a "Paused" indicator while the clock is stopped — for example "Paused — On Hold." The progress bar freezes in place.
The timeline records it. You'll see activity entries like "paused SLA — status set to On Hold" and "resumed SLA — left On Hold."
No double-counting with business hours. If you're also on business-hours mode, an overnight pause is handled correctly — the same hour is never subtracted twice.

Tickets blocked by another ticket

Separately from statuses, a ticket marked "blocked by" an open ticket pauses its SLA countdown until the blocker closes or the link is removed. This is controlled by the "Pause SLA timer while a ticket is blocked by another" toggle in the same section.

1 An agent marks Ticket A as "blocked by" Ticket B (using ticket relations).
2 Ticket A's SLA countdown pauses immediately and shows "Paused — blocked by #B."
3 When Ticket B closes (or the blocked-by link is removed), Ticket A's countdown resumes from where it left off.

Blocked-by pausing is on by default Unlike status pausing, the blocked-by pause ships turned on (you'll have seen the "New: SLA pause-on-blocked" banner). If you'd rather blocked tickets keep counting, switch the toggle off.

Frequently asked questions

Does pausing change my existing SLA numbers?

Only going forward, and only for tickets that enter a status you've marked as pausing. Until you select a status, nothing pauses.

Which statuses should I pause on?

Pick the ones where the ball is in someone else's court — commonly a "waiting on customer" or "On Hold" status. Don't pause on statuses where your team is still expected to act.

What's the difference between status pausing and blocked-by pausing?

Status pausing stops the clock based on the ticket's status (e.g. On Hold). Blocked-by pausing stops it based on a relationship — the ticket is blocked by another open ticket. You can use either, both, or neither.