How SLA Tracking Works

SLA tracking in Converge is fully automatic once you've created your policies. Here's the big picture before we get into the details:

You define the rules

Create SLA policies that set first-response and resolution time targets for each priority level (urgent, high, normal, low).

Converge tracks automatically

When a customer messages you, the SLA clock starts. Converge calculates deadlines, pauses the clock when you reply, and resumes it when the customer responds again.

Your team stays informed

Color-coded badges show time remaining at a glance. If a deadline is about to be missed, the assigned agent gets notified before it's too late.

Success Check: You understand the three-part flow: define policies, automatic tracking, and real-time notifications.

Creating SLA Policies

Admin / Owner Only

Each SLA policy is tied to a priority level and defines how quickly your team should respond and resolve conversations at that priority. You can have one active policy per priority.

Setting up your first policy

1
Open SLA Settings
Click the Settings icon in the sidebar, then select SLA from the settings menu.
2
Click "Add Policy"
A form appears with fields for policy name, priority level, and time targets.
3
Choose a priority level
Select Urgent, High, Normal, or Low. Each priority can have only one active policy, so choose the level this policy should apply to.
4
Set your time targets
Define a first response target (how quickly an agent should send the first reply) and a resolution target (how quickly the conversation should be resolved). Both are measured in minutes.
5
Enable business hours (optional)
Toggle Use Business Hours to calculate deadlines using your company's working hours and timezone. When disabled, the clock runs 24/7.
6
Save and activate
Save the policy. Make sure the Active toggle is on. Inactive policies won't trigger any tracking.

SLA Settings page showing policies grouped by priority with the edit form open, displaying policy name, first response and resolution targets, business hours toggle, and active toggle

Understanding the two time targets

First Response Time

How quickly your team should send the first reply after a customer reaches out. The clock starts when the inbound message arrives and stops when any agent sends a response.

Resolution Time

How quickly the entire conversation should be resolved. This clock intelligently pauses while waiting for the customer to reply and resumes when they respond.

Pro Tip: You don't have to set both targets. If you only care about first response time, leave the resolution target empty. Converge will only track what you define.

Success Check: You have at least one SLA policy created and active. It appears in the policy list on the SLA settings page.

Setting Customer Priorities

SLA policies are matched to conversations based on the customer's priority level. Every customer starts at "Normal" priority, and you can change it at any time to trigger different SLA targets.

The four priority levels

Urgent

Critical issues that need immediate attention. Use for outages, security incidents, or high-value customers with time-sensitive problems.

High

Important issues that should be addressed promptly. Use for VIP customers or complex problems that can't wait.

Normal

The default for all conversations. Standard support requests handled within your regular SLA targets.

Low

Non-urgent inquiries like feature requests or general feedback. Longer response windows keep your team focused on what matters.

Changing a customer's priority

1
Right-click the customer in the contact list
A context menu appears with a Priority submenu.
2
Select the new priority
Choose Urgent, High, Normal, or Low. The priority updates immediately and SLA tracking resets to use the new policy.

Contact list context menu showing the Priority submenu with Urgent (red), High (orange), Normal (blue), and Low (gray) options

Filtering by priority

Need to see all urgent conversations at a glance? Click the filter icon in the contact list and use the Priority filter. Check one or more priority levels to narrow your view.

Pro Tip: Create SLA policies for at least Urgent and Normal priorities. This gives your team clear expectations for critical vs. standard requests without overcomplicating things.

Success Check: You can change customer priorities from the context menu and filter the contact list by priority level.

Understanding the Tracking Lifecycle

SLA tracking isn't just a static countdown. It adapts to the natural flow of a conversation—starting, pausing, resuming, and completing as your team and the customer interact.

1

Start

A new inbound message arrives for a customer whose priority matches an active SLA policy. Both the first-response and resolution clocks begin counting.

2

First Response

An agent sends the first reply. The first-response SLA is marked as "met" or "breached" depending on whether it was within the target time. The resolution clock continues.

3

Pause

After the agent replies, the resolution clock pauses. Your team shouldn't be penalized while waiting for the customer to respond.

4

Resume

The customer sends another message. The resolution clock resumes, continuing from where it left off.

5

Resolution

The conversation is marked as Resolved. The resolution SLA is marked as "met" or "breached" based on total active time (paused time is excluded).

Business hours mode: When enabled on a policy, deadlines skip non-working hours. If a customer messages at 6 PM and your team works 9 AM–5 PM, the clock doesn't start counting until the next business day.

Pro Tip: The pause/resume mechanism ensures your resolution time reflects actual working time, not time spent waiting for the customer. This gives you more accurate performance data.

Success Check: You understand how SLA tracking flows through the conversation lifecycle—from start to resolution, including automatic pausing.

Breach Notifications

Converge continuously monitors all active SLA tracking records. When a deadline is about to be missed, the right people get notified so they can act before it's too late.

How breach detection works

A background process checks every 2 minutes for SLA deadlines that have been exceeded. When a breach is detected:

Assigned conversations

The assigned agent receives an in-app notification alerting them to the breached SLA. They can click the notification to jump directly to the conversation.

Unassigned conversations

If no agent is assigned, all admins receive the breach notification. This ensures urgent conversations never fall through the cracks.

Each breach triggers exactly one notification—no repeated alerts for the same overdue item. The SLA status updates to "breached" and remains visible in all SLA indicators across the interface.

Pro Tip: Assign conversations early. When an SLA breaches on an unassigned conversation, every admin gets notified. Assigning an owner ensures the right person is alerted.

Success Check: You know that breach notifications are automatic—assigned agents get alerted for their conversations, and admins catch anything unassigned.

Reading SLA Status Indicators

SLA status is visible across the interface so you always know where things stand. Here's where to look and what the indicators mean.

Where SLA indicators appear

Contact List Badge

A compact color-coded badge next to the customer's name in the inbox. Shows the most critical SLA status at a glance—green for on track, yellow for approaching deadline, red for breached.

Chat Header

When you open a conversation, the SLA badge appears in the header with time remaining and a tooltip showing detailed information.

Customer Details Sidebar

The most detailed view. An SLA Status Card shows first response status, resolution status, deadlines, whether the clock is paused, and relevant timestamps.

Understanding the color codes

Green — On Track

Plenty of time remaining before the deadline.

Yellow — Approaching

Deadline is close. Act soon to avoid a breach.

Red — Breached

The deadline has passed. The SLA was not met.

Customer details sidebar showing the priority selector with SLA policy description, assigned agent, and conversation properties

Success Check: You can identify SLA status from the contact list, chat header, and customer details panel using the color-coded badges.

Best Practices & Tips

Start with two policies

Create policies for Urgent and Normal priorities first. This covers most scenarios without overwhelming your team with too many tiers.

Enable business hours for fairness

Unless your team operates 24/7, turn on business hours mode. It ensures overnight messages don't count against your SLA targets.

Set realistic first-response targets

A 15-minute first response for Urgent and 60 minutes for Normal is a good starting point. Adjust based on your team's capacity and customer expectations.

Assign conversations promptly

Breach notifications go to the assigned agent. Unassigned conversations alert all admins, which can cause notification fatigue. Assign ownership early.

Use priority filters in the inbox

Filter by Urgent or High priority to focus on the conversations that matter most. This helps agents triage their queue efficiently.

Review SLA compliance regularly

Check your SLA stats weekly or monthly to spot trends. Consistently breached policies might mean your targets need adjusting—or that you need more agents.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I don't create a policy for a priority level?

Conversations at that priority level simply won't have SLA tracking. No deadlines, no badges, no breach notifications. You can always add a policy later.

Can I have multiple policies for the same priority?

No. Each priority level can have only one active policy. If you need different targets, consider using a different priority level or adjusting the existing policy.

Does the SLA clock run outside business hours?

Only if you leave the "Use Business Hours" toggle off. When business hours mode is enabled, deadlines are calculated using your company's configured working hours and timezone—time outside those hours doesn't count.

What happens when I change a customer's priority?

SLA tracking resets and restarts using the new priority's policy. The previous tracking record is replaced with a fresh one based on the updated targets.

Why is the resolution clock paused?

The resolution clock pauses automatically after your agent replies. It's waiting for the customer to respond. Once they send a new message, the clock resumes. This way, your resolution time reflects actual working time rather than time the customer was idle.

Do I need to set both first response and resolution targets?

No, both are optional. You can track only first response time, only resolution time, or both. Set what matters most for your support goals.