The targets: first reply, next reply, resolution time

Plan requirement

Subscription Suite Growth or higher, Support Professional or higher
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Each target measures something different and pauses at different moments. Choosing the wrong one is why SLAs behave oddly.

The targets

Target Measures
First reply time Creation to your first public reply. The one customers feel.
Next reply time Each customer message to your next reply. Applies repeatedly.
Periodic update time Maximum silence on a ticket you are working. For long investigations.
Requester wait time Total time the customer spent waiting on you.
Agent work time Time the ticket spent in a state where you owed something.
Resolution time Creation to solved.

Which to actually use

First reply time. Start here and possibly stop here. It is what customers notice, it is easy to explain, and it is achievable.

Next reply time is the natural second, because a fast first answer followed by three days of silence is worse than a slower steady conversation.

Resolution time is the one to be careful with. Much of a long resolution is waiting for the customer, or for a supplier, and neither is something you control. It reads well in a contract and behaves badly on a dashboard.

When the clock pauses

Reply targets pause while the ticket is pending, because you are waiting on the customer. That single rule explains almost every SLA question, and it is why pending against on-hold matters so much.

See also

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