What is an SLA?

Service level agreement (SLA), explained

An SLA turns “we reply quickly” into something measurable. The most common support SLAs cover first response time and time to resolution, often with different targets for urgent and routine requests and for different channels.

External SLAs are promises, sometimes in contracts with business customers, and breaching them can carry penalties. Internal SLAs, sometimes called service level objectives, are targets the team manages to. Many small businesses have only internal targets, which is fine as long as they are written down and tracked.

Set SLAs from data rather than aspiration. Look at your current median and slowest response times, your staffing hours and your volume patterns, then set a target you can meet consistently. Decide whether the clock runs in business hours or calendar hours, and whether it pauses while waiting for the customer.

AI replies change the picture. If an AI agent answers instantly, decide whether that counts toward the SLA or whether the SLA applies only once a conversation reaches a person. Most teams measure both.

How to measure it

Report by priority and channel. State whether time is counted in business or calendar hours.

Common mistake

How SuperBot relates

SuperBot answers website visitors from your own content, and handed-off chats go to a shared team inbox with the transcript; it does not set or track contractual SLAs for you.

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Related terms

• First response time (FRT)First response time (FRT) is the time between a customer contacting support and receiving the first reply. It is usually reported as a median or average over a period. Automated acknowledgements are often excluded, because FRT is meant to show how long customers wait before someone, or something, actually starts helping.
• Average handle time (AHT)Average handle time (AHT) is the average amount of time an agent spends on one customer interaction from start to finish, including talking or typing, any hold time, and the follow-up work after the conversation ends. Contact centres use it for staffing and cost planning, but pushing it down too hard can hurt resolution and satisfaction.
• Shared inboxA shared inbox is a single queue where a whole team can see, assign and reply to customer conversations, instead of messages sitting in one person's email. It shows who is handling what, keeps the conversation history in one place, and prevents both duplicate replies and conversations that nobody answers.
• Resolution rateResolution rate is the percentage of customer conversations or tickets that end with the customer's issue solved. For AI support, it usually means conversations the bot resolved without a human. Because vendors define “resolved” differently, the number is only meaningful when you know the definition behind it and check it against repeat contacts and satisfaction.