Understanding ticket reply time

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<p class="p" dir="ltr">When you use Zendesk to support customers, a question that people
commonly ask is “How long does it typically take for one of my agents to
respond to a ticket after it’s first created?”</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Zendesk Support records the time from when a ticket was created to the
first <em class="ph i">public</em> agent response. Zendesk Explore reads this value and
makes it available in a metric named <strong class="ph b">First reply time</strong>.</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> All Support plans record first reply times. The method you use to
interact with these depends on your Support plan and are typically
available on Support Professional and Enterprise only.</div>
</div>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">This article describes how first reply time works and how you can use
it in your reports.</p>
<p class="p">This article contains the following sections:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_mch_mqd_1hb">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_jvw_nqd_1hb">How first reply time is calculated</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_etg_4qd_1hb">Reporting first reply time</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_hxr_pqd_1hb">Zendesk SLAs and first reply time</a></li>
</ul>
<p class="p">Related article:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_hg2_vnp_tzb">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409148782234" target="_blank">Tips for lowering first reply
time</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_jvw_nqd_1hb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">How first reply time is calculated</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">The Zendesk first reply time metric measures the time between
ticket creation and the first public agent comment after that.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">After the first public reply, the system calculates the first
reply time in calendar hours and business hours. Both metrics are
stored with the ticket data, so you can use either (or both) to
build reports.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">First reply time works essentially the same way regardless of
the channel from which the ticket originated. For example:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_jvw_nqd_1hb__ul_t5q_1rd_1hb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">A customer email creates a ticket. Timing starts when
the ticket is created and ends at the first public agent
comment.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">An agent creates a ticket. Timing starts when the
ticket is created and ends at the agent's <em class="ph i">next</em> public
comment.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">An agent takes a phone call that creates a ticket and
solves the ticket with no new comment. The customer later
re-opens the ticket, and the agent then responds with a
public comment. First reply time ends when that comment is
posted.</li>
</ul>
<p class="p">When an agent adds a public comment from another account using ticket
sharing, this doesn't count toward your account's first reply
time.</p>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested2" id="topic_tpp_f3x_rzb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title3">Additional details for messaging and live chat first reply time</h3>
<div class="body">
<div class="p">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Live chat users must <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6670155267994" target="_blank">activate reply time
SLAs</a> to track chat reply time. Reply time
SLAs are turned off by default.</div>
</div>
<p class="p">First reply time
is calculated exclusively based on agent replies.
That means automated or bot-related actions in
conversations aren’t considered when calculating
the first reply time. Across all channels, ticket
creation starts the first reply timer. Live
conversation channels are no exception. However,
because public replies aren’t an agent response
option for live chat and messaging tickets, the
actions that stop the timer are
different:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_tpp_f3x_rzb__ul_j1p_ypn_31c">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">On messaging tickets</strong>, the timer stops
when the agent clicks <strong class="ph b">Send</strong> on their first
Messaging reply to the conversation.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_tpp_f3x_rzb__image_p2m_m4n_31c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/messaging_response_option-AW.png" width="500"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">On live chat tickets with reply-time SLAs
turned on</strong>, the timer stops when the agent
clicks <strong class="ph b">Send</strong> on their first comment in the
conversation.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_tpp_f3x_rzb__image_x1h_mqn_31c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/uc_chat_start_ticket3.png" width="500"></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">Messaging and live chat tickets also have an additional metric:
First reply time (sec). This metric is often a more accurate
measure of first reply times for tickets from live
conversations, which tend to move more quickly than tickets
from other channels. Unlike the standard First reply time
metrics, the First reply time (sec) metric ignores your
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4500737327258#topic_nxy_njd_btb" target="_blank">messaging business
hours</a> and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408822398106" target="_blank">live chat operating
hours</a> settings.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_etg_4qd_1hb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Reporting first reply time</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">The following sections describe how to use the Zendesk
reporting tools to read first reply time information.</p>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested2" id="topic_wnw_4qd_1hb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title5">Reporting using Explore</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Explore reads first reply time information from
Support. The reports:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_wnw_4qd_1hb__ul_spy_wqd_1hb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Read data from Support using the Zendesk API.
They do not calculate calendar hours or business
hours.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Display information on pre-built reports in
calendar hours. However, metrics for business hours
are available and can be used in your own
reports.</li>
</ul>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408827693594" target="_blank">Metrics and
attributes for Zendesk Support</a>, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4724624097818" target="_blank">Metrics and
attributes for Zendesk messaging</a>, and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409149177242" target="_blank">Metrics and
attributes for live chat</a>. </p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested2" id="topic_j2g_pqd_1hb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title6">Reporting using External analytic tools</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">If you're not using any Zendesk reporting methods, you
can still read first reply time information using the
Zendesk API. The first reply time information in calendar
hours is stored together with the first reply time in
business hours and clearly labelled. See <a class="xref" href="https://developer.zendesk.com/rest_api/docs/support/ticket_metrics" target="_blank">API metrics
documentation</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title7" class="topic nested1" id="topic_hxr_pqd_1hb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title7">Zendesk SLAs and first reply time</h2>
<div class="body">
<div class="p">
<div class="note important">
<span class="importanttitle">Important:</span> The first reply time metric described in this
article and a SLA first reply time metric both use the first
reply time, but work in different ways. If you want to use
SLA times, make sure you review the information in this
section first.</div>
</div>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">A service level agreement, or SLA, is a policy you define that
specifies and measures the response and resolution times that your
support team delivers to your customers. To determine these times,
your SLA policies may also use the first reply time metric. </p>
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> The SLA reply time metric may behave differently than the standard
behavior described in this article if advanced SLA settings were
configured for a policy. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7412192349466" target="_blank">Customizing your SLAs with
advanced settings</a>.</div>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">However, there are differences in the way that the first reply
time metric work with SLAs:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_hxr_pqd_1hb__ul_utz_3qd_1hb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">If a ticket is created with a public comment from an
agent, the SLA first reply time target is not run.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">If a ticket is created with a private comment, the SLA
first reply time target will not start until the ticket gets
a first public comment from an end user. <p class="p">An exception to
this rule is that if the requester is a light agent,
the first reply time SLA target starts at creation
even without a public comment.</p>
</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">SLA first reply time targets are fulfilled when a
ticket is solved, even if the ticket never had a public
comment from an agent.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">SLA targets can be run in calendar or business hours,
but not both.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Business hour SLA targets pause outside business
hours, then restart when business hours begin.</li>
</ul>
<p class="p">For more information, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408829459866" target="_blank">Defining SLA
policies</a>.</p>
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