Resolution time - Cases, Example, and Important Notes
An overview: Resolution time
Resolution Time refers to the time taken to resolve a ticket, calculated from when the ticket is created until it is marked as closed. This metric helps measure how efficiently customer issues are handled from start to finish.
It is generally used to understand the overall effectiveness of the support team in completing requests. It reflects the total time taken to address and close customer issues, and can be used in reports to evaluate service performance over a selected period.
Importance of Resolution Time in Zoho Desk
Measure how long it takes to fully resolve and close customer tickets.
Track the total time taken from ticket creation to closure.
Monitor overall resolution efficiency across tickets and time periods.
Evaluate individual agent performance using metrics such as Agent Resolution Time.
Assess how quickly assigned agents are able to complete and close tickets.
Monitor whether resolution targets defined in SLAs are being met.
Identify delays in ticket closure, including bottlenecks in handling or dependencies.
Support reporting, trend analysis, and continuous improvement of support operations.
Related formulas
Metrics | Formula |
System Resolution Time | Ticket closed time − Ticket created time − Duration of the ticket in Closed status |
Agent Resolution Time | Ticket closed time − Time at which the ticket was assigned to that agent − Duration of the ticket in Closed status and On Hold status |
Team Resolution Time | Team ticket closed time − Ticket assigned time − Duration of the ticket in Closed status and On Hold status |
Resolution Violation | Ticket closed time − Due date |
Resolution SLA Success Time | Due date − Ticket closed time |
Let's look into the default rules, the cases, and their examples.
SLA has been applied to the ticket
Default rules | Example | Notes |
If an SLA is applied to the ticket, resolution time will be calculated based on business hours. | Ticket raised: 4:00 PM, Monday. The SLA response time: 8 business hours. Company's business hours: Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM. In this case: 2 business hours are counted on Monday (from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM). The remaining 6 business hours continue on Tuesday, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. So, if the ticket is resolved by 3:00 PM on Tuesday, it is considered resolved within SLA, because only business hours are counted, not out of business hours. | Business hours must be configured in the SLA. Otherwise, calendar hours will be used by default. |
Multiple open/close cycles in a single ticket
Default rules | Example | Notes |
If a ticket goes through several open and close cycles, the total resolution time will be calculated as the sum of all these individual cycles. | A ticket is created on Monday at 10:00 AM and closed at 4:00 PM, with a resolution time of 6 hours. The next day at 11:00 AM, the customer replies, reopening the ticket. It is closed again at 5:00 PM, adding another 6 hours, In this case: The resolution time is 12 hours. | Agent resolution time is calculated as the duration from when a ticket is assigned to the agent until it is closed, for each cycle. |
Multiple agents handling a ticket
Default rules | Cases | Example | Notes |
When a ticket is managed by more than one support rep, the overall ticket resolution time is the total time taken to close it.
| Case 1: The agent initially handling the ticket is unavailable.
Case 2: The agent first assigned to the ticket replies but leaves it open and is unavailable the next day.
| Case 1: A ticket is created on Monday at 10:00 AM and initially handled by Agent A, who works on it until 1:00 PM, then reassigns it to Agent B. Agent B continues the investigation and finally closes the ticket at 4:00 PM. In this case: Although two agents were involved, the overall ticket resolution time is calculated from the initial creation at 10:00 AM to the final closure at 4:00 PM, totaling 6 hours. Case 2: A ticket is opened on Monday at 10:00 AM and is initially handled by Agent A. Agent A responds and closes the ticket at 4:00 PM the same day. The next day at 11:00 AM, the customer replies, reopening the ticket. Since Agent A is on leave, the ticket is reassigned to Agent B at 12:00 PM. Agent B responds and closes the ticket at 4:00 PM on Tuesday. In this case: The total ticket resolution time is 11 hours. Agent A's resolution time is 6 hours, and Agent B's resolution time is 4 hours. | -Each agent’s resolution time is calculated based on the duration they were assigned to and closed the ticket.
-Resolution time is recorded only at ticket closure.
|
Agent closes a ticket assigned to a different agent
Default rules | Examples | Notes |
A ticket owned by Agent A is replied to and closed by Agent B, but the ownership still reflects Agent A. In this case, the resolution time is recorded for Agent A, not Agent B. | A ticket is assigned to Agent A at 11:00 AM. Later, Agent B notices the ticket, replies to it, and closes it at 2:00 PM, but does not update the ownership, it still shows Agent A as the owner. In this case, the agent resolution time is recorded for Agent A, since the ownership was not transferred to Agent B before closure. For the resolution time to reflect Agent B’s work, Agent B should have reassigned the ticket to themselves before closing it. | To ensure accurate tracking, Agent B must first assign the ticket to themselves before replying and closing it. Only then will the resolution time be updated for Agent B. |
Ticket closure and agent resolution time outside business hours
Default rules | Examples |
If a ticket is created during business hours but responded to and closed outside of them, the resolution time should be calculated starting from the first minute of the next business hour. | If a ticket is received at 4:00 PM on Monday and Agent A responds and closes it at 7:00 PM (outside business hours), it will be considered closed at 9:00 AM on Tuesday. The resolution time will be 2 hours. If the ticket was assigned to Agent A during business hours, their resolution time starts from the assignment time. But if assigned after hours (e.g., 6:05 PM), the agent resolution time is immediate,1 minute. |
Ticket raised after hours and closed during business hours
Default rules | Examples |
If a ticket is created outside business hours and is responded to and closed during business hours, the resolution time is calculated from the start of the business day to the time the ticket is closed. | If a ticket is received at 7:00 PM on Monday and closed at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, the resolution time is calculated from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM Tuesday, totaling 2 hours. If the ticket is assigned to Agent A during business hours, their resolution time starts from the assignment time. If assigned after hours (e.g., 7:00 PM Monday), it starts from the next business hour at 9:00 AM Tuesday. |
Ticket raised and closed outside business hours, with no business hours in between
Default rules | Examples | Notes |
If a ticket is created and closed during out-of-business hours, with no business hours occurring between those times, the resolution time is considered immediate, i.e., 1 minute. | If a ticket is received at 7:00 PM on Monday and replied to and closed at 9:00 PM the same evening, both outside business hours, the resolution time is 1 minute. | The agent resolution time will also be 1 minute. |
Unassigned ticket replied and closed by an agent
Default rules | Examples | Notes |
If an agent replies to and closes an unassigned ticket, the ticket resolution time is calculated from the time of ticket creation to closure. The agent resolution time is calculated from the moment the ticket was assigned to them. | A ticket is created on Monday at 10:00 AM but remains unassigned. At 2:00 PM, Agent A picks it up, assigns it to themselves, replies, and closes it.
Ticket resolution Time: 4 hours (from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM) | Agent Resolution Time: Starts from 2:00 PM (when Agent A assigned the ticket to themselves) and ends at closure, so 1 minute if closed immediately. |
Merging two new tickets
Default rules | Cases | Examples | Notes |
When a customer submits multiple tickets for the same issue, and the support representative merges them, the system treats the earliest ticket as the reference point for resolution. Therefore, the ticket resolution time is calculated from the creation time of the first ticket.
| Case 1: Ticket assigned after creation Case 2: Ticket assigned after merge If both tickets remain unassigned and are only assigned to the agent after being merged, the agent's resolution time will begin from the time the ticket is assigned. | Case 1: If a ticket is raised at 10:00 AM but remains unassigned, and another ticket is raised at 12:00 PM and assigned to the agent at 12:00 PM, the agent's resolution time will start from 12:00 PM. Case 2: A customer submits two tickets for the same issue:
Ticket 1 is created at 9:00 AM.
Ticket 2 is created at 11:00 AM.
The support representative merges the two tickets at 12:00 PM. The system will treat Ticket 1 (9:00 AM) as the reference point for resolution time, even though Ticket 2 was created later.
Ticket resolution time: The resolution time will be calculated from 9:00 AM, the creation time of Ticket 1, to when the ticket is closed.
| Agent resolution time: This will be based on the time the agent is assigned the merged ticket, regardless of the creation time of the individual tickets. |
Merging two tickets with multiple open/close cycles
Default rules | Cases | Examples | Notes |
When two tickets with multiple open/close cycles are merged, the resolution time of both tickets is summed up. From that point onward, the resolution time will be calculated based on the subsequent open/close cycles.
| Case 1: If both tickets have the same ownership, the assigned time remains unchanged after merging. Case 2: If the tickets have different ownership, the assigned time will be reset to the time of merging. This applies even if an assigned ticket is merged with an unassigned ticket, with the benefit of the doubt given to the support agent. | Ticket 1:
Opened on Monday at 10:00 AM
Closed at 2:00 PM (Resolution time: 4 hours)
Reopened on Tuesday at 11:00 AM
Closed at 3:00 PM (Resolution time: 4 hours)
Total: 8 hours
Ticket 2:
Opened on Monday at 1:00 PM
Closed at 5:00 PM (Resolution time: 4 hours)
At this point, Ticket 1 and Ticket 2 are merged. The combined resolution time so far is 12 hours (8 hours from Ticket 1 + 4 hours from Ticket 2).
After the merge, any further open/close cycles will add to this total. For example, if the merged ticket is reopened and closed again later, the time taken in that cycle will be added to the existing 12 hours. | The agent resolution time will be summed up for individual agents. |
Tickets are split
Default rules | Examples | Notes |
When a ticket is split into two, Ticket A and a new Ticket B. The resolution time for Ticket B will not be based on the split time. Instead, it will start from the time of the incoming thread that led to the split.
| A customer sends a message on Monday at 10:00 AM within Ticket A. The support team realizes the issue needs separate handling and splits the message into a new ticket (Ticket B) at 1:00 PM. Ticket B is then replied to and closed by the support agent at 3:00 PM. Resolution Time for Ticket B: Agent Resolution Time: | -If ownership is carried over from Ticket A to B, the assigned time should also be carried forward to ensure accurate agent resolution time calculation. -If Agent A was already assigned to Ticket A before the split, and ownership is retained in Ticket B, then the assigned time from Ticket A is also carried over. |
Move department
Default rules | Examples | Notes |
When a ticket is transferred from one department to another, the resolution time remains based on the original ticket creation time. | A customer raises a ticket on Monday at 10:00 AM, and it is initially assigned to the Billing department. After reviewing, the Billing team realizes it's a Technical issue and transfers the ticket to the Technical Support department at 1:00 PM the same day. The Technical Support team then resolves the ticket at 5:00 PM on Monday. Even though the ticket is moved to a different department, the resolution time is still calculated from the original creation time (10:00 AM), not from the time of transfer. This will make the resolution time 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, 7 hours. This ensures the overall time taken to resolve the issue is accurately tracked from when the customer first raised it. | Agent resolution time is calculated from when the ticket is assigned to the agent in the new department.
|
On-hold status handling
Default rules | Examples | Notes |
The resolution time will include the duration the ticket remains in the On Hold status, meaning the on-hold time is not excluded from the overall resolution calculation.
| A ticket is received on Monday at 10:00 AM. It is put On Hold at 12:00 PM and reopened at 2:00 PM, then responded to and closed immediately. In this case, the resolution time is calculated from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, totaling 4 hours, including the time the ticket was on hold. | Agent resolution time will exclude any duration the ticket spent in On Hold status. In other words, the on-hold time is subtracted from the agent’s resolution time calculation. |
Points to note
Ticket resolution time and agent resolution time will be updated every time the ticket is closed.