What Is Resolution Time?
Resolution Time tracks how long it takes to fully solve a customer's problem — a core measure of support efficiency and quality.
Key Takeaways
- Resolution Time measures the full duration from ticket creation to closure.
- Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR) is the average resolution time across all tickets in a period.
- Complex issues naturally take longer — segment by issue type before drawing conclusions.
- Long resolution times are often caused by waiting on customers, not agent inactivity.
What resolution time measures
Resolution Time (also called Time to Resolution or Mean Time to Resolve — MTTR) is the total elapsed time from when a support ticket is created to when it is marked resolved. Unlike First Response Time, which captures initial speed, Resolution Time captures the full lifecycle of a support interaction. A ticket opened on Monday morning and resolved on Tuesday afternoon has a resolution time of roughly 24–30 hours, depending on your business hours calculation method.
Business hours vs calendar hours
Most support teams calculate resolution time using business hours (e.g. 9am–6pm Monday to Friday) rather than calendar hours, as customers generally understand that overnight or weekend delays are expected. However, for 24/7 support teams or premium SLA tiers, calendar-hour measurement is more appropriate. Be consistent and transparent with customers about which method your SLAs are based on.
Segmenting resolution time meaningfully
A global average MTTR is rarely actionable. Segment by: issue category (billing queries resolve faster than technical bugs), priority tier (P1 issues should resolve faster than P3), channel (complex issues often migrate from chat to email), and agent (outliers reveal training needs or workload imbalances). Comparing resolution time across product areas can also flag features that generate disproportionately complex support demand — a signal worth escalating to the product team.
Wait time vs handle time
Resolution Time is composed of two very different components: agent handle time (the time agents are actively working on the ticket) and wait time (the ticket sitting idle, often waiting for a customer reply or an internal team's input). Many long resolution times are driven by wait time rather than slow agents. Tracking these separately reveals whether your improvement efforts should focus on agent efficiency, internal escalation processes, or customer follow-up workflows.