Set SLA policies

Define first response, next response, close, and resolve targets, apply them by default or through workflows, and control how office hours and snoozing pause the clocks.

SLA policies set targets for how fast your team responds to and resolves customer requests, and show a countdown before a target is missed. This article covers the targets, how policies are applied, and how office hours and snoozing affect the clocks.

Configure policies in Settings > Support > SLA policies.

Create a policy

Go to Settings > Support > SLA policies and create a policy.
Give it a Name (for example "Premium support").
Set one or more targets. Leave a target empty to skip it, but set at least one:
- First response: time to the first reply
- Next response: time to reply each time the customer is waiting on you again
- Time to close: time to close the conversation
- Time to resolve: time for the linked customer ticket to reach a resolved status
Choose the pause options (see below) and save.

Response targets count from the customer's message. Once a target is set it can be changed but not removed, and edits only affect conversations the policy is applied to afterwards.

How policies are applied

Default policy: at the top of the page, pick a Default policy to apply when a conversation starts, or leave it on None.
Workflows: the Apply SLA action in a workflow applies a policy based on any condition, for example priority or team.

A conversation carries one active SLA. Applying a different policy replaces it and restarts the reply clocks. Re-applying the same policy keeps the elapsed time. An agent can also remove an applied SLA from the conversation.

The Time to resolve target runs on the linked customer ticket, not the conversation. A workflow applies it, or it applies automatically when a customer ticket is linked to a conversation that already carries the policy.

Targets are copied when a policy is applied, so editing a policy never changes clocks that are already running.

Tip: Build a workflow that applies your "Urgent" policy when priority is set to Urgent, so your fastest targets start the moment a conversation needs them.

Office hours and pauses

Business hours: when office hours are configured, clocks count only time inside them, and holidays pause them too. Without office hours, clocks run around the clock.
Pause while snoozed (on by default): stops the clocks while the conversation is snoozed.
Pause while pending (on by default): stops a ticket's resolve clock while it waits in a pending status, on the customer or a third party. It only matters when the policy has a Time to resolve target.

Breaches feed your automation

Approaching and actual breaches both fire events your workflows can act on, such as alerting a team, reassigning the conversation, or sending a webhook. Analytics also report SLA attainment and misses.

Archive and clone

Archive a policy to stop it from being applied again. It stays on conversations that already carry it and in reports. A policy that a live workflow uses cannot be archived until you pause or edit that workflow. Clone a policy to start a new one from existing targets.