SLA policies are available on the Business plan and above (paywall key
tickets.use_sla). Lower plans see the priority field but no timers attach.How the timer works
Two clocks run on every conversation:- First response — starts when the customer’s first message lands, stops when any team member (or the AI) sends a reply.
- Resolution — starts at the same point, stops when the conversation is resolved.
Configure your policy
Open Settings → SLA policy. You’ll see a 4-by-2 grid: one row per priority (urgent, high, normal, low), one column for first-response, one for resolution. Values are in minutes.
Defaults match what most SMB support teams promise:
| Priority | First response | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Urgent | 15 min | 2 hours |
| High | 1 hour | 8 hours |
| Normal | 4 hours | 24 hours |
| Low | 24 hours | 72 hours |
- Respect business hours — pause the clock outside your configured business hours so an after-hours email doesn’t breach overnight. See Workspace settings for hours setup.
- Pause on pending — pause the clock when a conversation is waiting on the customer (tagged
pendingorwaiting-on-customer). Resumes when they reply.
Setting priority on a conversation
Open any conversation and click the priority pill in the header to change it. Priority can also be set automatically:- By an assignment rule (e.g. “VIPs get high priority”).
- By a flow’s Set priority action.
- By the AI agent if the system prompt says so.
The SLA inbox view
A built-in SLA filter in the left rail shows everything within 25% of breach, ordered by time-to-breach — the most urgent ticket is on top, every refresh. Your team works the SLA queue first thing in the morning and last thing before signing off. Easy ritual, no missed promises.Breaches
A breach doesn’t pause anything. The conversation stays in the queue until it’s replied/resolved, just with a red SLA breached badge. Breach data shows up in Analytics → Response time so you can see whether the policy is realistic.Plan availability
| Plan | SLA timers |
|---|---|
| Starter | Off |
| Growth | Off |
| Business | On (default policy + customisation) |
| Scale | On |
Related
Custom inbox views
Build queues like “VIP unassigned over 1h”.
Response time analytics
Where the time goes — by channel, agent, hour of day.