SLA & Work Hours
The SLA & Work Hours section controls how support tickets are measured and escalated in the Help Desk.
SLA stands for Service Level Agreement. In simple terms, it defines how quickly the team should respond to a ticket and how quickly the ticket should be resolved.
This section helps managers set clear expectations for support teams and make sure important tickets are handled on time.
What this section is used for
Section titled “What this section is used for”Use SLA & Work Hours to:
- Set response time goals
- Set resolution time goals
- Create escalation rules
- Decide who should be notified when a ticket is delayed
- Set working days and working hours
- Add holidays or non-working days
- Review or restore deleted SLA policies
This helps the Help Desk stay organised and consistent when handling support requests.
Response & Resolution Goals
Section titled “Response & Resolution Goals”The Response & Resolution Goals tab shows the active service targets for each department and priority level.
The table displays:
- Department: The team or department responsible for the ticket.
- Priority: The level of urgency, such as Medium, High, or Critical.
- Response Goal: How quickly the team should respond to the ticket.
- Resolution Goal: How quickly the team should resolve the ticket.
For example, a Medium priority ticket for the IT Department may have a response goal of 1 minute and a resolution goal of 5 minutes.
This helps users quickly see the expected handling time for different types of tickets.
SLA policy details
Section titled “SLA policy details”When viewing a policy, JMS shows a detailed summary of how that SLA works.
The policy details may include:
- Policy name
- Active or inactive status
- Priority level
- Department
- Response goal
- Resolution goal
- Escalation rules
- Created and updated dates
The escalation rules explain what happens when a ticket is not handled within the expected time. For example, JMS can notify selected users at different escalation levels.
SLA Policies
Section titled “SLA Policies”The SLA Policies tab is where SLA rules are created, reviewed, and updated.
An SLA policy tells JMS:
- Which department the rule applies to
- Which category the rule applies to
- Which priority level triggers the rule
- How fast the team must respond
- How fast the team must resolve the ticket
- Who should be notified if the ticket is delayed
This section is important because it controls the automatic escalation process.
Creating a new SLA policy
Section titled “Creating a new SLA policy”When creating a new SLA policy, the user can enter:
- Policy Name: A clear name for the SLA rule.
- Department: The department responsible for the ticket.
- Category: The ticket category linked to the policy.
- Response Time Minutes: How long the team has to respond.
- Resolution Time Minutes: How long the team has to resolve the ticket.
The user can also add conditions and escalation levels.
Conditions
Section titled “Conditions”Conditions tell JMS when the SLA policy should apply.
For example:
- If the priority is High
- If the department is IT Department
- If the category matches a specific issue type
All conditions must be true before the policy applies.
Escalation levels
Section titled “Escalation levels”Escalation levels tell JMS who to notify when a ticket is not handled on time.
The policy can include three fixed escalation levels:
- Level 1: First reminder or notification
- Level 2: Second escalation if the ticket is still not handled
- Level 3: Final escalation for more serious delays
Each level can have:
- Users to notify
- A trigger time in minutes
For example, Level 1 may notify selected users after 1 minute, Level 2 after 2 minutes, and Level 3 after 3 minutes.
This helps make sure delayed tickets do not go unnoticed.
Holiday Schedules
Section titled “Holiday Schedules”The Holiday Schedules tab controls the working calendar used by the Help Desk.
This is important because SLA timers should follow business working hours. If a ticket comes in outside working hours or during a holiday, JMS can use these settings when calculating response and resolution times.
Working Hours
Section titled “Working Hours”The working hours table shows each day of the week.
It includes:
- Day
- Status
- Start Time
- End Time
- Summary
A day can be marked as Working or Closed.
For example:
- Monday to Friday may be working days.
- Saturday and Sunday may be closed days.
The start and end times show when the support team is available.
Holidays
Section titled “Holidays”The Holidays section is used to record special non-working days.
A holiday record can include:
- Holiday Name
- Date
- Active status
If a holiday is active, JMS can treat that date as a non-working day for SLA calculations.
Adding a holiday
Section titled “Adding a holiday”When adding a holiday, the user enters:
- Holiday name
- Date
- Whether the holiday is active
This helps the system avoid counting holidays as normal working days.
The Trash tab stores SLA policies that have been deleted.
This gives users a way to review deleted policies before permanently removing them.
The trash table may show:
- Policy name
- Department
- Priority
- Available actions
The available actions include:
- Restore: Moves the policy back into active use.
- Delete Forever: Permanently removes the policy from the system.
This helps prevent accidental data loss.
Why SLA & Work Hours matter
Section titled “Why SLA & Work Hours matter”This section helps the Help Desk maintain service quality.
By setting clear goals and escalation rules, the team knows how quickly tickets should be handled. Working hours and holidays make sure those goals are measured fairly. Reports can then show whether the team is meeting its targets or where improvement is needed.
In short, SLA & Work Hours helps JMS manage support expectations, reduce delays, and keep ticket handling consistent across departments.