Reading the SLA timer on a ticket

The SLA timer

Every open ticket has a Resolution SLA clock — how long until the ticket needs to reach a Resolved status. The deadline and breach state are shown in the Resolution SLA card in the right-side properties panel of the ticket worktop.

The system also tracks a First response timer internally (the moment an agent posts a public reply stops it), but the first-response deadline is surfaced in reports and in the ticket queue columns rather than as a separate card on the worktop.

Colour key

The resolution SLA card shows the due datetime and turns red once breached:

• Normal — the deadline is shown with a neutral clock icon; the ticket is within target.
• Breached — the icon and timestamp turn red, and a “breached” label appears.

Warning thresholds (amber state in reporting) are configured per SLA policy in admin (default 80% — i.e. the warning fires when 80% of the target time has elapsed, with 20% left).

What pauses the clock

The clock only ticks during the calendar’s working hours. So a 4-hour resolution SLA on a ticket raised at 4 PM Friday won’t go red on Monday morning — it picks back up at 9 AM and breaches at 1 PM.

Statuses can also pause the clock. A ticket in Waiting on user or Waiting on third party stops accumulating time — the rationale is that the delay isn’t on the helpdesk team. When the ticket moves back to Open, the clock resumes.

In admin, the Pauses SLA flag on each ticket status controls this (admin → Ticket types & statuses). Don’t change it lightly; pausing the wrong status hides genuine breaches.

What stops the clock entirely

• First response stops the moment you (an agent, not the requester) post a public reply.
• Resolution stops when the ticket transitions to Resolved or Closed.

System notes and internal notes don’t count as a first response — only a reply the requester would see.

When it’s about to breach

If you can see the resolution deadline approaching and you can’t fix it in time:

1. Reach out — even a holding reply (“we’re looking at this, no fix yet, will update by Friday”) stops the first-response clock.
2. Reassign if you’re not the right person — don’t sit on tickets out of habit.
3. Re-evaluate priority if the requester has misjudged it — but document why in an internal note.
4. Move to “Waiting on user” if you’re genuinely blocked on them — don’t use this as a parking trick, the audit log catches misuse.

Reporting on breaches

The SLA dashboard (Reports section) shows breach rates per department, per agent, and per template. A consistent breach pattern usually means an SLA policy that’s too aggressive for the actual workload, not lazy agents.