SLAs: Getting Started

An SLA tier sets the time targets for handling a ticket: how fast the first reply should go out, and how fast the ticket should be resolved. By the end of this guide you'll have one SLA tier saved and set as your default. Takes about 5 minutes.

Before you start

• You're signed in as an admin.
• You know the response and resolution targets you want, in hours or minutes.

Steps

1. Open SLA tiers. Go to Settings, then SLAs. You'll see any tiers you've already created.
2. Add a tier. Click Create tier and give it a clear Name, such as "Standard" or "Premium".
3. Set the first response target. Under First response target, enter how long the first reply may take in hours and minutes, for example 4 hours.
4. Set the resolution target. Under Resolution target, enter how long the ticket may take to resolve, for example 24 hours.
5. Set escalation thresholds. Each tier warns and escalates as a ticket uses up its time. The defaults are Warn at 75% and Escalate at 90% of the target. Change these percentages if you want earlier or later alerts. The breach always comes at 100%.
6. Make it the default. Tick Default tier if you want this tier applied to every new ticket that no workflow gives a different tier. Only one tier can be the default, so ticking this replaces the previous default.
7. Save. Click Create. The tier appears in the list and is ready to use.

You're done

Your SLA tier is saved. If you set it as the default, every new ticket gets it automatically. As a ticket uses up its time, the assigned agent gets a warning at your warn percentage, and the assigned team gets an escalation at your escalate percentage. Both get a breach notice once the target passes. If a ticket has no agent and no team, every agent is notified.

Next steps

• Set up a workflow and add a Set SLA tier action to apply a specific tier to matching tickets.
• Set your business hours in the Business Hours section on the same page, and tick Default schedule. Targets only skip closed hours once a default schedule exists. Until then, the clock counts every hour of the day.