Troubleshooting common SLA issues

If you're experiencing service level agreement (SLA) issues, use this guide to find solutions to the most common behaviors.

This article contains the topics below:

The badge shows Now after the target is breached

Breached targets do not take business hours into consideration

The new policy does not display

SLA applied only to some tickets

First reply time metric not working

SLA is not paused when ticket status is pending

Target hours showing incorrectly

Newly applied SLA executes additional breach event

Why don't I see an SLA badge when there's an SLA policy on the ticket?

Updates to schedules don’t reflect in SLA Targets

For general information about how SLAs function, see Viewing and understanding SLA targets.

The badge shows Now after the target is breached

The badge displays Now when the target changes after a breach. These changes include public comments, status changes, priority changes, or policy changes.

Breached targets do not take business hours into consideration

Even if you set up the target on business hours, the badge always shows the time in calendar hours. It doesn't matter if your target is in business or calendar hours.

The new policy does not display

Zendesk doesn't apply a newly created SLA policy to existing tickets, or Zendesk doesn't apply an updated SLA policy to tickets already using that SLA.

Explanation

SLAs are based on ticket events. For an SLA policy to match tickets, an event such as ticket creation or ticket update must happen on the ticket. Otherwise, the ticket shows no SLA information or continues to show the old SLA information.

In the example below, an SLA policy didn't apply because there wasn't an existing policy to apply the last time the ticket was updated, or the ticket didn't meet the policy's conditions.

In the example below, an SLA policy applies after a ticket update, after you create a policy or update the ticket to meet an existing policy's conditions:

SLA applied only to some tickets

An SLA doesn't apply to tickets that meet all the SLA policy conditions.

Explanation

This happens when tickets don't have a set ticket priority. Tickets must have a priority for the SLA target to apply. The ticket priority must be the system default field. SLAs don't apply using custom ticket fields.

Depending on the ticket priority, SLA policies can have different target times and types of hours of operation:

If the ticket doesn't have a priority to match the target time in the SLA policy, the target time doesn't apply and no timer displays until you add a priority.

This can also happen if you create the ticket with a private comment or internal note from a user who is not a light agent. For private tickets, first reply time SLA targets are deferred. The SLA target activates when the first public end-user comment is added, even if there are public agent comments before that point.

In the example below, Zendesk didn't apply an SLA policy because the ticket was created without a priority.

After you update the same ticket to have a priority, Zendesk applies the SLA policy.

First reply time metric not working

A newly created ticket doesn't show a timer for the first reply time metric even though all criteria for the SLA policy are met.

Explanation

This happens when an agent creates a ticket on behalf of an end user and the first comment is public. The first reply target is fulfilled at ticket creation because the agent submits the first public comment, which is the first reply.

In the example below, no first reply time metric applies because the agent created the ticket.

You can create exceptions in your advanced settings.

SLA is not paused when the ticket status is pending

The SLA timer doesn't pause when the ticket status changes to Pending.

Explanation

This happens because the ticket waits for agents to fulfill the first reply time or the next reply time metric. There are currently four SLA targets that don't pause in pending status: First Reply Time, Next Reply Time, Periodic Update Time, and Total Resolution Time. Reply metrics don't change based on ticket status. You fulfill reply metrics if an agent replies with a public comment to the requester.

The first reply time and the next reply time always use an end-user comment as the starting point and a public agent response as an endpoint. For more information, see Defining and using SLA policies.

Target hours showing incorrectly

Tickets with SLAs that have a target in business hours show a higher number of hours than the SLA metrics should have set.

Explanation

SLA badges always display in calendar hours. Real time remaining appears so agents can prioritize their work. Although you can choose to calculate the target time in business hours, the timer still displays time in calendar hours and won't take into consideration non-working days or holidays set in your account.

For a detailed explanation, see Why do I see differences in SLA target hours?

Newly applied SLA executes additional breach event

When Zendesk applies a new policy to a ticket that already had the SLA breached, even if the new policy is only a modified version of an existing policy, the system records another breach event at the time of the update.

Explanation

The system can't modify past ticket events history. When a new SLA application happens, the SLA counter always looks forward from that point.

Why don't I see an SLA badge when there's an SLA policy on the ticket?

There are several reasons why an SLA badge won't appear on a ticket with an SLA policy applied. For more information, see Why aren't SLA badges appearing?

Updates to schedules don’t reflect in SLA Targets

Explanation

When you edit a schedule, including adding or removing holidays, SLA targets don't automatically update. However, if a ticket receives an SLA update, targets reassess. If there's a public comment, status change, priority change, or policy change, the ticket recalculates its SLA badge according to the new schedule. Minimize schedule changes, since frequent changes cause confusion.

Note: SLAs don't apply to tickets that you solve upon creation. The solved status satisfies SLAs and prevents policies from activating, as long as the ticket remains solved. If you reopen tickets, SLAs can start activating and running normally.