> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.fusiondesk.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Configure SLA Policies for Support Ticket Response Times

> Set up Service Level Agreement policies in FusionDesk to define first-response and resolution time targets for each ticket priority level, with escalations and business hours.

Service Level Agreement (SLA) policies in FusionDesk define the maximum amount of time your team should take to first respond to and fully resolve a support ticket. When a ticket is created, FusionDesk automatically assigns the matching SLA policy and starts the clock. If a deadline is approaching or is missed, FusionDesk triggers escalation rules and notifications to keep your team accountable. Setting up SLA policies correctly is one of the most impactful things you can do to maintain consistent, measurable support quality.

<Warning>
  When an SLA is breached — that is, the first-response or resolution deadline passes without the required action — the ticket is permanently flagged as **Breached** in reporting, even if the agent responds or resolves it moments later. Breached status cannot be cleared retroactively. Make sure escalation notifications are configured before you go live so agents have enough lead time to act.
</Warning>

## Default SLA Policy

Every FusionDesk workspace comes pre-configured with a default SLA policy that applies to all tickets unless a more specific policy is matched. The default targets are:

| Priority   | First Response Time | Resolution Time |
| ---------- | ------------------- | --------------- |
| **Urgent** | 1 hour              | 4 hours         |
| **High**   | 4 hours             | 8 hours         |
| **Medium** | 8 hours             | 24 hours        |
| **Low**    | 24 hours            | 72 hours        |

These targets assume 24/7 coverage. If your team operates on business hours only, configure the **Business Hours** setting on each policy (covered in [Pausing SLAs](#pausing-slas-business-hours-configuration)) so that timers only count down during working hours.

You can view and edit the default policy under **Settings → SLA Policies → Default Policy**.

## Creating a Custom SLA Policy

You can create as many custom SLA policies as your workspace needs — for example, a stricter policy for enterprise customers, or a relaxed policy for low-priority internal requests.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open SLA Policy settings">
    In the left sidebar, go to **Settings**, then select **SLA Policies** under the **Help Desk** section.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click New SLA Policy">
    Click the **New SLA Policy** button in the top-right corner of the SLA Policies page.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name your policy">
    Give the policy a descriptive name that identifies its scope or tier, for example `Enterprise - 24/7` or `Internal IT Requests`.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set response and resolution targets">
    For each priority level (**Urgent**, **High**, **Medium**, **Low**), enter the target **First Response Time** and **Resolution Time** in hours or minutes. You can leave a target blank to indicate no SLA commitment for that priority.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure business hours (optional)">
    Toggle **Apply Business Hours** if this policy should only count time during your team's working schedule. Select the business hours calendar to use. See [Pausing SLAs](#pausing-slas-business-hours-configuration) for more details.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save the policy">
    Click **Save Policy**. The new policy is now available to assign to ticket categories, groups, or individual tickets via automation rules.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Assigning SLA Policies to Ticket Categories

A custom SLA policy only takes effect when it is assigned. FusionDesk evaluates policies in the following order of precedence (highest to lowest):

1. **Ticket-level override** — an SLA manually set on an individual ticket
2. **Automation rule** — an SLA assigned by a trigger/condition rule
3. **Category or group policy** — an SLA attached to a ticket category or agent group
4. **Default policy** — the workspace-wide fallback

To assign a policy to a ticket category:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Go to Ticket Categories">
    Navigate to **Settings → Ticket Categories**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select or create a category">
    Click the category you want to configure, for example `Billing` or `Technical Support`.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the SLA Policy">
    In the category settings panel, find the **SLA Policy** dropdown and select the policy you want to apply to all tickets in this category.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save changes">
    Click **Save**. All new tickets created under this category will automatically inherit the selected SLA policy. Existing tickets are not retroactively affected.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Info>
  You can also assign SLA policies dynamically using **Automation Rules** under **Settings → Automations**. This lets you apply policies based on any combination of ticket fields — for example, applying an enterprise SLA whenever a ticket's requester belongs to an enterprise account group.
</Info>

## SLA Breach Notifications and Escalations

FusionDesk notifies the right people before and after a breach so your team can act in time.

**Notification triggers** are configured per SLA policy. For each priority tier, you can define alerts at:

* A percentage of the deadline elapsed (e.g., notify when 75% of first-response time has passed)
* A fixed time before the deadline (e.g., notify 30 minutes before resolution is due)
* At the moment of breach

**Who gets notified** is configurable per trigger:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Assignee" icon="user">
    The agent currently assigned to the ticket receives an in-app alert and email.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Team Lead / Supervisor" icon="users">
    Escalate to a manager or group when the assignee hasn't acted within a threshold.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Ticket Requester" icon="envelope">
    Optionally notify the customer that the ticket is taking longer than expected.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Webhook / Integration" icon="webhook">
    Fire a webhook to a Slack channel, PagerDuty alert, or any external endpoint.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

To configure escalations, open **Settings → SLA Policies**, click the policy you want to edit, and navigate to the **Escalations** tab. Add one or more escalation rules by selecting the trigger timing and the notification targets.

## Pausing SLAs (Business Hours Configuration)

If your team is not available around the clock, you should configure SLA policies to count time only during business hours. This prevents tickets from breaching overnight or over weekends when no agents are working.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Define a Business Hours calendar">
    Go to **Settings → Business Hours** and click **New Schedule**. Set your team's working days and hours, and select the appropriate timezone. You can create multiple schedules for different regions or teams.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Link the schedule to an SLA policy">
    Open the SLA policy under **Settings → SLA Policies**, toggle on **Apply Business Hours**, and select the schedule from the dropdown.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure holiday calendars (optional)">
    Under **Settings → Business Hours**, click **Holidays** to add dates on which SLA timers should be fully paused — for example, national public holidays. Holiday calendars are shared across all SLA policies that reference the same business hours schedule.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save and verify">
    Save your changes. Create a test ticket and confirm the SLA deadline shown on the ticket respects your business hours window before rolling out to your team.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  When a ticket's status is set to **Pending** — indicating you are waiting for a customer reply — you can configure FusionDesk to automatically pause the SLA resolution timer. Enable this under **Settings → SLA Policies → \[Your Policy] → Pause on Pending**. The timer resumes the moment the customer replies and the ticket moves back to **In Progress**.
</Tip>