A word for "waiting for a reply"

I have a system which has the following structure:

Inbound > Open > Pending > Awaiting reply > Ready > Closed

I'd like to use single-words, so the one that sticks out like a sore thumb is "Awaiting reply".

I obviously can't use "Pending" because that's already in use. And "Awaiting" is too similar to "Pending".

Is there a word for "waiting for a reply"?

Solution 1:

How about "Unanswered"?

I know it's not the perfect answer -- it's not clear whether the items are unanswered by other people or unanswered by you. But then, the same could be said of "awaiting reply" :-)

Solution 2:

I think you may have to live with "awaiting reply." Even if you do find a single word that comes close to the same meaning, it is likely to be obscure or not appropriate for the context.

In technical writing, which is how I would classify documenting a process, it is sometimes necessary to sacrifice elegance in favor of making your writing clear and easy to understand quickly with a minimum of mental friction. In this case, your goal is to make your writing "invisible": if the reader "notices" what you've written, that means you've failed. When the reader encounters the labels you've given the process steps, he or she should understand them immediately without a second thought. "Awaiting reply" achieves that goal, whereas a more flowery or clever single-word label may not.