How to report SLA compliance in Zendesk
SLA compliance is the percentage of tickets that met your SLA target (e.g. first reply within 4h, resolution within 24h). Reporting it in Zendesk means defining the target, choosing the metric (first reply and/or resolution), and building a report that shows compliance over time and—where possible—breach risk. This guide covers how to think about it and where to report it. For what to put on an SLA dashboard, see support SLA dashboard.
What is SLA compliance in Zendesk
In Zendesk, SLA policies define targets (e.g. first reply within 4 business hours, resolution within 24 business hours). SLA compliance is the % of tickets that met the target in the period. SLA breach by priority breaks that down so you see which priorities or segments are at risk. For definitions, see the glossary.
How to report SLA in Zendesk
Zendesk has SLA policies and metrics; Explore (or your plan’s reporting) can report on SLA compliance and breach. In outline:
- Define the target — First reply and/or resolution; use business hours if you don’t work 24/7 so the number matches when you actually work.
- Metric — % of tickets that met the SLA in the period (e.g. “first reply within 4h”).
- Time dimension — By day, week, or month so you see trend.
- Breakdown — By group, priority, or tag so you see where compliance drops or breach risk is high. See SLA breach by priority in the glossary.
For first reply and resolution definitions and reporting, see first reply time in Zendesk and Zendesk resolution time report.
Compliance rate vs breach risk
- Compliance rate — Tells you how you did in the past (e.g. “last week we hit 92%”). Use it for reporting and trend.
- Breach risk — Tickets that are about to breach now (e.g. “12 tickets are within 30 minutes of first-reply SLA”). Use it for real-time triage. A good SLA report shows both; see support SLA dashboard.
When to escalate
- Single ticket at risk — Reassign or escalate that ticket.
- Many tickets at risk in one segment — May be a capacity or routing issue in that group or tag; fix process or add coverage there.
- Compliance dropping over time — Volume may have grown; check backlog and ticket volume and consider capacity or triage. See reduce first response time.
Common mistakes
- Mixing business and calendar hours — Use business hours in your SLA and in your report so the numbers match.
- No trend or breakdown — A single compliance % isn’t enough. Show over time and by segment so you can act.
FAQ
What’s the difference between SLA compliance and first reply time?
First reply time is the metric (e.g. median 3.2h). SLA compliance is the % of tickets that met a target (e.g. “first reply within 4h”). You report both: the metric for trend, compliance for “did we hit the target?” See SLA compliance and first response time.
Should we track SLA by priority?
If your SLA differs by priority (e.g. high = 2h, normal = 4h), then yes. Use SLA breach by priority and break down your report by priority. See support SLA dashboard.
Where does SLA fit in our weekly review?
After volume, backlog, first reply, resolution, and reopens. See support dashboard template and support ops metrics.