Service Level Agreements (SLAs) help you commit to and measure response times. Set targets, track compliance, and get alerts when deadlines approach.
Overview
SLAs define:
- First Response Time - How quickly you reply initially
- Next Response Time - Time between subsequent replies
- Resolution Time - Total time to resolve
Creating SLA Policies
- Go to Settings → SLA
- Click New SLA Policy
- Name your policy (e.g., "Enterprise SLA")
- Set target times
- Define which conversations it applies to
- Save
SLA Targets
| Metric | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| First Response | Time to first agent reply | 1 hour |
| Next Response | Time for follow-up replies | 4 hours |
| Resolution | Time to close the conversation | 24 hours |
Business Hours
SLA time can be calculated based on business hours:
- Go to Settings → Business Hours
- Set your working hours for each day
- Add holidays when you're closed
- Enable "Business hours only" on SLA policies
Example
If your hours are 9am-5pm Monday-Friday:
- A 4-hour SLA for a message at 4pm = response by 11am next day
- Weekend messages don't count until Monday 9am
Applying SLAs
Define which conversations each SLA applies to:
By Company Plan
- Enterprise customers → 1 hour first response
- Pro customers → 4 hour first response
- Starter customers → 8 hour first response
By Priority
- High priority → 1 hour
- Normal priority → 4 hours
- Low priority → 24 hours
By Channel
- Live chat → 5 minutes
- Email → 4 hours
- Slack → 1 hour
SLA Indicators
Conversations show SLA status in the inbox:
| Color | Status |
|---|---|
| Green | Within SLA (plenty of time) |
| Yellow | Warning (approaching deadline) |
| Red | Breached (past deadline) |
Alerts
Get notified before SLAs breach:
Warning Alerts
- Triggered at configurable % of SLA time (e.g., 75%)
- Email to assigned agent
- Slack notification to channel
Breach Alerts
- Triggered when SLA is missed
- Escalate to manager
- Auto-assign to available agent
SLA Reports
Track SLA performance in Analytics:
- Compliance Rate - % of conversations meeting SLA
- Average Response Time - Compared to target
- Breach List - Conversations that missed SLA
- Trends - Performance over time
Multiple SLAs
When multiple SLAs could apply, the most specific wins:
- Company-specific SLA
- Plan-based SLA
- Channel SLA
- Default SLA
Pausing SLAs
SLA time pauses when:
- Conversation is set to "Pending" (waiting on customer)
- Conversation is "Snoozed"
- Outside business hours (if configured)
Time resumes when the customer replies or snooze ends.