Free Calculator

First Response Time Calculator

Calculate your team's first reply speed from timestamps

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First Response Times (minutes)

Results

Average FRT
31 min
Median
20 min
P90
90 min
Fastest
5 min
Slowest
90 min
Benchmark
Good

First response time (FRT) measures how long customers wait for their first human reply after submitting a support request. It is the single most important metric for customer perception of support quality — customers judge your entire support operation by how quickly you acknowledge their issue. FRT is a key component of your SLA commitments and directly impacts CSAT scores.

SuperOffice's analysis of over 1,000 companies found that the average first response time is 12 hours and 10 minutes. Yet 88% of customers expect a response within 60 minutes. This 11-hour gap between expectation and reality is why FRT improvement often produces the largest gains in customer satisfaction.

The impact is measurable: according to Zendesk's analysis of 45,000 companies, every 10-minute reduction in FRT during the first hour correlates with a 2% increase in CSAT scores. The diminishing returns start after 1 hour — going from 3 hours to 2 hours matters less than going from 30 minutes to 20 minutes.

This calculator accepts paired timestamps (ticket created → first reply) and automatically computes average, median, P90, and P95 metrics. It handles both minute-based and timestamp-based inputs for flexibility.

How to Use This Calculator

  1. Enter FRT values: Input the first response time in minutes for each ticket. Add more entries as needed.
  2. Review all metrics: See average, median, P90 (90th percentile), fastest, and slowest FRT.
  3. Check benchmarks: Compare your metrics against industry standards.
  4. Identify outliers: The gap between average and median reveals how much outliers affect your score.

Pro Tips

  • Report median AND P90: Median shows typical experience, P90 shows worst-case. Both are needed for a complete picture.
  • Measure during business hours: Weekend and overnight tickets skew calendar-time FRT. Use business-hours FRT for team performance.
  • Set channel-specific targets: Email FRT < 2 hours, chat FRT < 1 minute, social FRT < 30 minutes. Don't blend them.
  • Focus on P90 reduction: Your worst 10% of FRTs are the experiences customers complain about. Fixing outliers has outsized impact.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is first response time?
First response time (FRT) is the elapsed time between when a customer submits a support ticket and when an agent sends the first human reply. Automated acknowledgments don't count. FRT is the most-watched support metric because it directly correlates with customer satisfaction — faster first responses lead to higher CSAT scores.
How is average FRT calculated?
Average FRT = Sum of all first response times / Number of tickets. For example, if three tickets had FRTs of 10, 30, and 80 minutes, average FRT = (10+30+80)/3 = 40 minutes. Use median instead of average for a more representative metric, as outliers can skew the mean.
What is a good first response time?
Benchmarks vary by channel. Email: under 4 hours is good, under 1 hour is excellent. Live chat: under 1 minute. Social media: under 1 hour. According to SuperOffice, the average first response time across all channels is 12 hours, but customer expectations are much faster — 88% expect a reply within 60 minutes.
Why use median instead of average for FRT?
Median is the middle value when all FRTs are sorted. It's more representative because outliers don't skew it. If 9 tickets get a 5-minute reply and 1 ticket gets a 24-hour reply, the average is 149 minutes but the median is 5 minutes. Median reflects the typical customer experience much better.
What is P90 and P95 FRT?
P90 means 90% of tickets received their first response within that time. P95 means 95% did. These percentile metrics are crucial for SLAs — they tell you about the worst-case experiences. A P90 of 4 hours means 10% of customers wait longer than 4 hours, which may be your biggest pain point.
How do you improve first response time?
The most effective tactics: use auto-routing to assign tickets to the right team instantly, implement canned responses for common questions, staff according to ticket volume patterns (more agents during peak hours), set up smart prioritization, and reduce context-switching by batching similar tickets.

Related Free Tools

Response Time Calculator →CSAT Calculator →SLA Uptime Calculator →

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