Narrative 5: The essential role of SLAs

Narrative 5: The essential role of SLAs

Behind the scenes of a successful ticketing system - BTS Series

Narrative 5: The essential role of SLAs

Every organization that interacts with customers establishes a timeframe within which agents should respond to queries as part of a service level agreement (SLA). For instance, a team might set an SLA requiring that the first response to any customer ticket be sent within an hour of its inception.



Let's look at an example: You schedule a 10 AM medical appointment using the healthcare provider's app. As part of their service commitment, they guarantee—through an SLA—that all patients will be seen within 15 minutes of their scheduled time. When you arrive and check in, you can feel confident that you'll be called in to see the doctor shortly. 

This level of timeliness is critical in healthcare, where delays can affect outcomes, patient satisfaction, and trust in the provider. The SLA ensures that the clinic is accountable for prompt service and provides a positive patient experience.

The same idea applies in any service industry: SLAs help maintain customer trust and satisfaction and keep operations running smoothly by setting specific standards. It is essential for businesses to carefully measure, document, and manage SLA metrics to ensure they consistently meet or exceed expectations for service quality.

What are service level agreements (SLAs)?

An SLA is a formal contract that sets the expected standards for quality, agent availability, and responsiveness between a customer and their service provider. It is essential to measure service delivery by establishing clear and achievable performance goals. 

SLAs are key to improving customer service because they outline specific targets, such as response and resolution times, which help ensure consistent and effective service delivery. Modern customer service tools now include SLAs to track performance, ensure compliance, and help escalate issues when they reach certain limits. By utilising automation, teams can prioritise tasks more efficiently. This results in better service delivery and higher customer satisfaction.

Types of SLAs

Zoho Desk offers two types of SLAs:

Service Level Agreements define the level of service a customer can expect from your support team based on measurable performance targets—such as response and resolution times—for specific customer issues. 

SLAs are customer-facing and are typically tied to factors such as ticket priority, customer tier, or support plan. Zoho Desk also allows you to configure SLAs based on business hours, time zones, and ticket severity to ensure compliance and timely follow-up.

Examples of SLAs:

  • Responding to high-priority support tickets within 1 hour
  • Resolving technical issues within 24 hours for standard support
  • Providing onboarding or implementation support within a set timeframe 

Operational-Level Agreements (OLAs) are internal policies that outline the actions various teams will take to meet the commitments outlined in SLAs. They are beneficial in larger organisations where teams rely on one another to deliver those services and meet agreed-upon performance levels. 

Examples of OLAs:

  • The IT infrastructure team must resolve backend server issues within 4 hours to support SLA uptime targets
  • The compliance team must review and update data privacy settings within two business days
  • The network team must report and resolve outages within an agreed window to avoid SLA breaches

What are escalations?

Escalations provide a backup system to prevent delays, which can still happen even with clear SLAs. SLA escalations are automated backup plans that activate when a deadline for a response or resolution is missed. To prevent the issue from being overlooked, these rules quickly reassign it to a higher authority or a peer. This approach enables businesses to maintain the necessary service standards, even in challenging circumstances.

Components of an SLA

Agreement overview: This section outlines the start and end dates of the SLA, identifies the parties involved, and summarizes the services covered.  

Description of services: This section outlines all included services, response and resolution times, escalation processes, and maintenance schedules.  

Communication protocols: This outlines the process for updating and communicating during the support process.  

Penalties and remedies: This section outlines penalties, such as service credits or compensation, that may be applied if service standards aren’t met. It also explains how breaches are handled.  

Exclusions: This describes events and conditions that void SLA obligations, such as force majeure or customer misconfiguration.  

Termination and review: This outlines the processes for reviewing, updating, or terminating the agreement.  

Why do businesses need SLAs?

  • Enhanced alignment between service delivery and customer expectations

SLAs establish a mutual understanding between the service provider and the customer regarding the service to be delivered. They play a crucial role in achieving the right balance between the parameters of service delivery and support.

  • Prioritization

SLAs specify which issues require immediate attention and prompt resolution.

  • Standardized support delivery

By clearly outlining their approach to service delivery, businesses can ensure consistency throughout the organisation. This minimises the risk of errors and operational slip-ups.

  • Better customer satisfaction

SLAs detail the expected response times for critical issues and the support processes for non-critical matters, ensuring prompt resolutions. Compliance with these established timelines leads to higher customer satisfaction levels.

  • Continuous service improvement

Examining service performance data allows for the identification of areas for improvement, adjustments to the services outlined in the SLA, and updates to SLA targets to meet business demands and expectations better.

Final thoughts on SLAs

SLAs are essential for providing reliable, clear, and high-quality service through ticketing systems. They set appropriate expectations and provide a way to measure and improve support performance.


Please stay tuned for more Desk behind-the-scenes series.

 

 Regards,

 

Kavya Rao

The Zoho Desk Team

    • Recent Topics

    • Ability to modify what displays in calendar invite?

      I am a long time calendly user and want to make the switch to bookings.  I understand that there is not currently a meets/hangouts integration, is one on the roadmap? Is there anyway I can modify the calendar invite to include the meet link?  I can add it to the emails no problem, but I would also like it to display on their calendar.  Is there some work around I can do to get it on the calendar?  Also am I able to modify the calendar event title?

    • Turn Decision Box to a button

      Dear all, I need your help on CSS to turn a Decision Box to a Button. I have a Decision Box like: Turn on/off to refresh the information. (on User Input, either True or False, will refresh the information) Now I want to simulate to treat it like a Refresh

    • Emails not being received from a particular domain

      Cannot receive any emails sent from atco.com Domain is in the spam whitelist so should be no reason for it not to be coming through. Have filed a ticket and besides a generic response of we are looking at it - it seems there is no actual support workers

    • Stock Count

      The stock count is a nice new feature, but we cannot figure out how to: 1. Use it without assigning to a person, we have a team or one of multiple do stock counts as do most any company. 2. Add any extra fields to what the "counter" sees. The most important

    • Can you import projects into Zoho Projects yet?

      I see some very old posts asking about importing project records into Zoho Projects. But I can't find anything up to date about the topic. Has this functionality been added? Importing tasks is helpful. But we do have a project where importing projects

    • How to delete attachments form Zoho mail accounts

      I can't find a way to delete attachments from Zoho mail messages, either individually or in bulk. Searches here are providing conflicting results and often talk about workspace, whereas I am only interested in how to delete attachments that are seen with

    • Send Whatsapp message from Whatsapp template with custom variables

      Hi, I'm trying to do some basic integration for sending WhatsApp messages from Zoho CRM using Zoho Desk whatsapp templates. When creating new whatsapp template in Zoho Desk we can choose ticket related fields as variables but it's not clear how to use

    • Outgoing blocked: Unusual activity detected.

      I just made payment for my Zohomail Today and have been debited so i will like to be Unblocked because this is what it says (Outgoing blocked: Unusual activity detected) Thank you i await your swift responses

    • Integrating with My Own Application and ZOHO CRM Simultaneously

      I have my own WhatsApp bot that uses my WhatsApp business account. I want to use the same phone number to integrate with ZOHO as well. What is the recommended way to do that? Should I integrate my application with ZOHO, forwarding messages whenever the

    • How do i move multiple tickets to a different department?

      Hello, i have several tickets that have been assigned to the wrong department.  I am talking about hundreds of automatically generated ones that come from a separate system. How can i select them all at once to move them to another department in one go? I can select them in "unsassigned open tickets view" but i can't find a "move to another department" option. I also can't seem to assign multiple tickets to the same agent in that same view. Could somebody advice?

    • Transferring CRM Attachments to Workdrive

      relatedrecords = zoho.crm.getRelatedRecords("Attachments","Conditions",conId); attachid = List(); for each ele in relatedrecords { attachementId = ele.get("id"); attachid.add(attachementId); } for each ele in attachid { counter = 1; downloadFile = invokeurl [ url: "https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v2/Conditions/" + conId + "/Attachments/" + ele type: GET connection : "work_drive" ]; resp2 = zoho.crm.attachFile("Deals",dealId,downloadFile); resp3 = zoho.workdrive.uploadFile(downloadFile, dealWD, "PlaceHolder"+counter+"",

    • New Customization options in the module builder: Quick Create and Detail view

      Hello everyone, We have introduced two new components to the module builder: Quick create and Detail view. The Quick Create Component It is a mini form used to create a record and associate it to the parent record from a lookup field. For example, if you have a Deals lookup in the Contacts module, then you can associate existing deals or create a deal and associate it with the contact. You can customize this Quick Create form by adding standard as well as custom fields. There is no limit to the number

    • unblock my zoho mail account. outlines@zoho.com

      please unblock my zoho mail account, outlines@zoho.com

    • SMTP email sending problem

      Hello, I've sent emails before, but you haven't responded. Please respond. My work is being disrupted. I can't send emails via SMTP. Initially, there were no problems, but now I'm constantly receiving 550 bounce errors. I can't use the service I paid

    • Mailk got blocked / Inquiry About Email Sending Limits and Upgrade Options

      Dear Zoho Support Team, My name is Kamr Elsayed I created this account to use for applying for vocational training in Germany. As part of this process, I send multiple emails to different companies. However, after sending only 8 emails today, I received

    • Forwarder

      Hi, I tried to add a forwarder from which emails are sent to my main zoho account email . However, it asks me for a code that should be received at the forwarder email, which is still not activated to send to my zoho emial account. So how can I get the

    • No chat option

      Chat option is not supported.

    • Direct “Add to Google Calendar” Option in Zoho Meeting

      Hello Zoho Meeting Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement related to the “Add to Calendar” functionality in Zoho Meeting. Currently, when we open Zoho Meeting and view our meetings under My Calendar, there is an Add to

    • Default Tagging on API-generated Transactions

      If one assigns tags to an Item or Customer, those tags get auto-populated in each line item of an Invoice or Sales Order when one creates those documents. However, if one creates the Sales Order or Invoice via the API (either directly coding or using

    • DKIM cannot be enabled for the domain as no verified default selector present

      Hi Support Team, For Domain DKIM record trying to enable status. but showing error "DKIM cannot be enabled for the domain as no verified default selector present" So, please resolve the issue. Thank you.

    • unable to send message reason 554 5.1.8 Email outgoing blocked

      unable to send message reason 554 5.1.8 Email outgoing blocked

    • I can't log in to my account on Thunderbird

      I've just had to rebuild my PC (calamitous mess from Microsoft with Win10/Win 11 'upgrade' - they confirmed I had to start with a new build). I have used Zoho mail for years via Mozilla Thunderbird, but now I've had to download the latest version of TBird,

    • Should I Use DMARC?

      When I configure Zoho Mail's DMARC settings, it's mandatory to fill in the RUA and RUF (Aggregate notification email address*, Forensic notification email address*) addresses. When we enter an email address in these fields, we receive reports from the

    • Introducing Profile Summary: Faster Candidate Insights with Zia

      We’re excited to launch Profile Summary, a powerful new feature in Zoho Recruit that transforms how you review candidate profiles. What used to take minutes of resume scanning can now be assessed in seconds—thanks to Zia. A Quick Example Say you’re hiring

    • Books API Receiving an Error that Doesn't Make Sense when Creating Credit Note - trying to use 'ignore_auto_number_generation' argument

      Hello, I'm working on a newly created routine and I'm getting an error that doesn't make sense when trying to create a new Credit Note. Here is my POST request. Endpoint: https://www.zohoapis.com/books/v3/creditnotes?organization_id=########## Body:     {

    • How to move emails to Shared Mailbox?

      Hello, I created a Shred Mailbox instead of using a distribution group. But I cannot move previous emails to certain shared mailbox. Is it possible move some emails from inbox to shared mailbox?

    • Collaboration with free plan user.

      Hello. Do both users need to be on Pro plan to collaborate? Or can a Pro user share a note with a free plan user with the ability to edit?

    • Zoho Inventory Now Supports VeriFactu for Businesses in Spain

      Starting from January 1, 2026, Spain requires real-time invoice reporting for all B2B transactions. From July 2026, this requirement will extend to B2C transactions as well. All reporting must be carried out through the VeriFactu to AEAT (Agencia Estatal

    • Connection to other user

      Zoho Cliq handles sharing of Custom OAuth Connections that require individual user logins.

    • In arattai received message can't be deleted

      The issue has been noticed in following: arattai app (Android) arattai app (Window) arattai web While the message posted by me may be deleted, the ones received from others can't be. The item <Delete> change to <Report> when the message is a received

    • Analytics Portal

      I have the "standard plan" and want to explore the portal option; I activated the 15-day trial but do not see the pricing for the add-on. How can I get the price under "Upgrade add-ons." Thanks Rudy

    • Can I filter a Lookup field to only show related records from another Lookup in Zoho CRM?

      In our Leads module, we have two Lookup fields: Recruitment Agency – the agency that the lead came from Recruiter – the individual contact from that agency who sent us the lead Both fields link correctly to their respective records in CRM. However, our

    • Zoho Books API invoice email bouncing with 'relaying-issues' error

      I have waited over 30 days for zoho books uk to assist with the following and i have had no replies or tickets erronously closed. The service has been terrible - very unlike zoho! So i am raising this here hoping that a community member can assist: Hello,

    • How do I filter contacts by account parameters?

      Need to filter a contact view according to account parameter, eg account type. Without this filter users are overwhelmed with irrelevant contacts. Workaround is to create a custom 'Contact Type' field but this unbearable duplicity as the information already

    • Zoho Writer to Zoho Sign Template Misalignment – Request for Community

      We are currently facing a critical issue impacting our live business operations due to a misalignment problem between Zoho Writer templates and Zoho Sign output. Issue Summary: We have an automated workflow in Zoho CRM using Deluge scripts that generates

    • Account blocked

      Yesterday I got my Zeptomail account blocked due to too many hard bounces. My account is used exclusively for sending transactional emails (eg. your order has been shipped, a form has been filled, etc) and the sudden blocking impacted hundreds of websites

    • Migration Tool Download

      Since apparently you have to ask for the migration tool to download (why?), I need the download for the migration tool for exchange servers. Please forward link, thanks.

    • IF Formula

      Hi, I'm having trouble setting up a custom formula in a field. Can you help me with it? The formula should do the following: If the created date is less or equal to 30 days the field should display a string New in pieline or Exisitng pipeline if above

    • Autorespond to one specific sender

      Is there any way to create a rule or filter that sends an automatic reply to messages from one specific email address?  I really need to set up something like a "vacation response" but only for one "received from" address.

    • View comprehensive logs of all actions in Custom Module History

      Hello everyone, We are happy to announce our new feature, Detail View in Custom Module History, which enhances visibility, control and accountability over your records. Users can now access a detailed timeline of every action that has been performed on

    • Next Page