SLA Policies

An SLA (Service Level Agreement) policy sets the clock on how fast your team must respond to and resolve customer conversations. In WizMessage, SLA timers are calculated using your configured business hours — meaning the countdown pauses when your team is offline, on weekends, or during holidays, so targets are always fair. You define a first-response target (how quickly an agent must acknowledge), a resolution target (how quickly the issue must be resolved), and optionally an auto-close window that automatically marks inactive conversations as resolved. When a target is missed, the system can auto-assign the conversation to the account owner and flash a live breach alert on the dashboard.

How SLA Policies Track Performance

System

Clock Starts

Customer message arrives and SLA countdown begins based on policy.

Agent

Resolution

Agent resolves issue within the Resolution Target (in minutes).

Agent

First Response

Agent must reply within the First-Response Target (in minutes).

System

Breach Alert

If targets missed, live alerts flash and unassigned chats escalate to Owner.

System

Clock Starts

Customer message arrives and SLA countdown begins based on policy.

Agent

First Response

Agent must reply within the First-Response Target (in minutes).

Agent

Resolution

Agent resolves issue within the Resolution Target (in minutes).

System

Breach Alert

If targets missed, live alerts flash and unassigned chats escalate to Owner.

What you can do here

First-Response Target — Set the maximum allowed working time (in minutes) before an agent must reply to a customer's inbound message. The clock stops as soon as an agent sends the first manual reply.
Resolution Target — Set the maximum allowed working time (in minutes) before the status must be set to Resolved. This clock pauses automatically when status transitions to Pending, Snoozed, or Resolved, and resumes when back to Open.
Business Hours Link — Link the policy to a specific Business Hours calendar so breach timers only tick during active working hours. Unlinked policies operate 24/7.
Auto-Close Inactive Conversations — Set an optional duration in hours (e.g., 24 or 48) to automatically mark open/pending threads as Resolved if there is no activity. This only applies to engaged threads where an agent has already responded.
Breach Detection & Escalation — Missed targets flash a warning badge, move to the top of the queue, and automatically assign to the Account Owner if currently Unassigned.

First-Response Target

Max working time (in minutes) before an agent must reply.

Resolution Target

Max working time (in minutes) to set conversation to Resolved.

Business Hours Link

Pause timers over weekends and holidays via calendar links.

Auto-Close Inactive

Automatically resolve engaged but inactive conversations after X hours.

How to define a policy

Configure an SLA policy

Step 1

Set Time Targets

Create a policy and define First-Response (e.g., 15 mins) and Resolution (e.g., 240 mins) targets.

Step 2

Link Calendar & Auto-Close

Select a Business Hours calendar to ensure fair measurement, and set an Auto-Close window for inactive threads.

Step 3

Set as Default

Toggle the Is Default toggle so all new incoming conversations inherit this policy and trigger live dashboard breach alerts.

Step 1

Set Time Targets

Create a policy and define First-Response (e.g., 15 mins) and Resolution (e.g., 240 mins) targets.

Step 2

Link Calendar & Auto-Close

Select a Business Hours calendar to ensure fair measurement, and set an Auto-Close window for inactive threads.

Step 3

Set as Default

Toggle the Is Default toggle so all new incoming conversations inherit this policy and trigger live dashboard breach alerts.

Tip: Make your first-response target aggressive (e.g., 15-30 minutes) and your resolution target realistic (e.g., 240 minutes). Customers appreciate a fast initial acknowledgment even if the final fix takes time.

Making the Most of SLA Policies

Every hour of delay in responding to a lead reduces your conversion probability significantly. In competitive markets, a 5-minute response delay can mean the customer has already bought from your competitor.

If you're just getting started, begin with 15–30 minutes for First Response and 240 minutes (4 hours) for Resolution. These are achievable for a small team and can be tightened as you grow. The key insight: a fast first acknowledgment matters more than instant resolution. Customers value knowing they've been heard.

15-30min

Recommended starting first-response target

240min

Recommended starting resolution target

24hours

Standard auto-close window to keep the inbox clean

Industry benchmarks

Playbook: Industry Targets

Fast Pace

Retail & E-commerce

2–5 minutes first response, 30–60 minutes resolution. Aim for 70–85% first-contact resolution during sales hours.

Secure

Finance & Banking

15 minutes first response, 2–4 hours resolution. Complex transaction disputes require dedicated escalation paths.

Careful

Healthcare

15–60 minutes first response, resolution varies by complexity. Clinical queries need mandatory human escalation.

Real results

Inbox Efficiency with Auto-Close

Stale Open Threads

HighNegligible

First Response Time

> 1 hr< 15 mins

Teams using Auto-Close logic and aggressive first-response targets

Business Hours — The working calendars that SLA targets run within.
SLA Report — Visual reports tracking response/resolution compliance.
Conversations — The inbox where breach badges and assignment audit logs appear.

SLA Policies

How SLA Policies Track Performance

System

Clock Starts

Customer message arrives and SLA countdown begins based on policy.

Agent

Resolution

Agent resolves issue within the Resolution Target (in minutes).

Agent

First Response

Agent must reply within the First-Response Target (in minutes).

System

Breach Alert

If targets missed, live alerts flash and unassigned chats escalate to Owner.

System

Clock Starts

Customer message arrives and SLA countdown begins based on policy.

Agent

First Response

Agent must reply within the First-Response Target (in minutes).

Agent

Resolution

Agent resolves issue within the Resolution Target (in minutes).

System

Breach Alert

If targets missed, live alerts flash and unassigned chats escalate to Owner.

What you can do here

First-Response Target — Set the maximum allowed working time (in minutes) before an agent must reply to a customer's inbound message. The clock stops as soon as an agent sends the first manual reply.

Resolution Target — Set the maximum allowed working time (in minutes) before the status must be set to Resolved. This clock pauses automatically when status transitions to Pending, Snoozed, or Resolved, and resumes when back to Open.

Business Hours Link — Link the policy to a specific Business Hours calendar so breach timers only tick during active working hours. Unlinked policies operate 24/7.

Auto-Close Inactive Conversations — Set an optional duration in hours (e.g., 24 or 48) to automatically mark open/pending threads as Resolved if there is no activity. This only applies to engaged threads where an agent has already responded.

Breach Detection & Escalation — Missed targets flash a warning badge, move to the top of the queue, and automatically assign to the Account Owner if currently Unassigned.

First-Response Target

Max working time (in minutes) before an agent must reply.

Resolution Target

Max working time (in minutes) to set conversation to Resolved.

Business Hours Link

Pause timers over weekends and holidays via calendar links.

Auto-Close Inactive

Automatically resolve engaged but inactive conversations after X hours.

How to define a policy

Configure an SLA policy

Step 1

Set Time Targets

Create a policy and define First-Response (e.g., 15 mins) and Resolution (e.g., 240 mins) targets.

Step 2

Link Calendar & Auto-Close

Select a Business Hours calendar to ensure fair measurement, and set an Auto-Close window for inactive threads.

Step 3

Set as Default

Toggle the Is Default toggle so all new incoming conversations inherit this policy and trigger live dashboard breach alerts.

Step 1

Set Time Targets

Create a policy and define First-Response (e.g., 15 mins) and Resolution (e.g., 240 mins) targets.

Step 2

Link Calendar & Auto-Close

Select a Business Hours calendar to ensure fair measurement, and set an Auto-Close window for inactive threads.

Step 3

Set as Default

Toggle the Is Default toggle so all new incoming conversations inherit this policy and trigger live dashboard breach alerts.

Tip: Make your first-response target aggressive (e.g., 15-30 minutes) and your resolution target realistic (e.g., 240 minutes). Customers appreciate a fast initial acknowledgment even if the final fix takes time.

Making the Most of SLA Policies

15-30min

Recommended starting first-response target

240min

Recommended starting resolution target

24hours

Standard auto-close window to keep the inbox clean

Playbook: Industry Targets

Fast Pace

Retail & E-commerce

2–5 minutes first response, 30–60 minutes resolution. Aim for 70–85% first-contact resolution during sales hours.

Secure

Finance & Banking

15 minutes first response, 2–4 hours resolution. Complex transaction disputes require dedicated escalation paths.

Careful

Healthcare

15–60 minutes first response, resolution varies by complexity. Clinical queries need mandatory human escalation.

Inbox Efficiency with Auto-Close

Stale Open Threads

HighNegligible

First Response Time

> 1 hr< 15 mins

Teams using Auto-Close logic and aggressive first-response targets

How SLA Policies Track Performance

Clock Starts

Resolution

First Response

Breach Alert

Clock Starts

First Response

Resolution

Breach Alert

First-Response Target

Resolution Target

Business Hours Link

Auto-Close Inactive

Configure an SLA policy

Set Time Targets

Link Calendar & Auto-Close

Set as Default

Set Time Targets

Link Calendar & Auto-Close

Set as Default

Playbook: Industry Targets

Retail & E-commerce

Finance & Banking

Healthcare

Inbox Efficiency with Auto-Close

Continue Learning

API Management

Bot Escalations

Excluded Numbers

How SLA Policies Track Performance

Clock Starts

Resolution

First Response

Breach Alert

Clock Starts

First Response

Resolution

Breach Alert

First-Response Target

Resolution Target

Business Hours Link

Auto-Close Inactive

Configure an SLA policy

Set Time Targets

Link Calendar & Auto-Close

Set as Default

Set Time Targets

Link Calendar & Auto-Close

Set as Default

Playbook: Industry Targets

Retail & E-commerce

Finance & Banking

Healthcare

Inbox Efficiency with Auto-Close