SLA and escalation
Set a first-response window, read the inbox SLA chips, and understand the one-shot escalation email for unclaimed handoffs.
A handoff that nobody claims is the worst outcome in the product: the visitor was promised a person and got silence. The SLA setting makes that visible, and escalates it if it happens anyway.
Setting the window
Owners and admins set the workspace's first-response SLA in minutes — from 1 minute to 10,080 (one week). Leaving it unset turns escalation off.
The window is measured from the moment the conversation was handed off, not from the visitor's first message. An individual conversation can also carry its own due time, which takes precedence over the workspace default.
Changing the setting is recorded in the audit log.
The inbox chips
| Chip | When |
|---|---|
| Amber warning | Due within the next 15 minutes |
| Red — breached | Past its due time |
The chips tick as time passes, without a reload, so the queue re-sorts itself in front of you. See Inbox overview.
Escalation
A background sweep looks for handoffs that are still unclaimed past their due time and emails the workspace owner about them.
Three properties are worth knowing:
- One-shot. A conversation is escalated once. It is stamped as notified, so
the owner is not emailed every hour about the same thread.
- Unclaimed only. Claiming stops escalation, even if the reply comes later.
- Off unless configured. With no SLA set and no per-conversation due time,
nothing escalates.
Choosing a window
Pick a number your team can actually meet during working hours. An SLA everyone breaches teaches the team to ignore the red chip, which costs you the signal.
Business hours and the SLA are independent: outside hours, handoffs still queue and the clock still runs. If you do not want overnight breaches, either set a window long enough to cover the night or accept the morning list. See Business hours.
Where to go next
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