Service level agreements (SLAs) and experience level agreements (XLAs) help you measure how effectively your organization handles employee requests.
- SLAs focus on speed - how quickly cases are acknowledged, updated, and resolved.
- XLAs focus on quality - how employees experience the support they receive.
Together, they provide a balanced view of operational performance and employee experience.
SLA vs. XLA
Although both measure service performance, they answer different questions.
| SLA | XLA |
| Measures how quickly work is completed. | Measures the quality of the employee's experience. |
| Uses objective time and completion targets. | Measures communication, understanding, and outcomes. |
| Focuses on operational performance. | Focuses on employee experience. |
| Examples include first response time and resolution time. | Examples include meaningful updates, sentiment recovery, and survey scores. |
Most organizations monitor both types of metrics together.
How service levels work
When a case matches an SLA policy, the policy applies one or more SLA and XLA metrics to the case.
As agents work the case, those metrics are tracked automatically.
For example:
- The first public reply starts the Time to first update metric.
- Waiting for an employee response can pause some time-based metrics.
- Resolving the case completes the Resolution time metric.
- The employee's survey response contributes to the Close survey score metric.
Managers can monitor progress throughout the lifecycle of the case using the service-level indicators in the agent workspace.
Active time
Most time-based metrics measure active time rather than elapsed time.
Active time includes only the periods when the case is being actively worked on.
For example, if a case spends two days waiting for an employee to reply, those two days don't count toward metrics that pause while the case is in the Waiting state.
This helps measure the time your team spends working on a case rather than delays outside their control.
SLA metrics
SLA metrics measure how quickly work is completed.
| Metric | Measures |
| Time to first update | Active time until the first public reply from an agent. |
| Next update time | Active time until an agent replies after the employee responds. |
| Periodic update time | Maximum time between agent updates while the case remains active. |
| One-touch resolution | Percentage of cases resolved with a single agent response. |
| Resolution time | Total active time taken to resolve the case. |
These metrics help managers identify workload issues, monitor responsiveness, and measure operational performance.
XLA metrics
XLA metrics measure the quality of the employee's support experience.
| Metric | Measures |
| Time to meaningful update | Time until the employee receives a response that moves the case forward. |
| Time to meaningful progress | Time until meaningful work has been completed on the case. |
| Time to understanding | Time until the first reply demonstrates an understanding of the employee's request. |
| Close survey score | Employee satisfaction after the case is resolved. |
| Context preserved on hand-off | Whether employees need to repeat information after a case is reassigned. |
| Reopen-free resolution | Percentage of resolved cases that remain closed. |
| Routing precision | Accuracy of the initial team and agent assignment. |
| Sentiment recovery | Improvement in employee sentiment throughout the case. |
Service-level indicators
Every case displays a service-level indicator that shows its current health.
| Indicator | Meaning |
| Green | Service targets are on track. |
| Amber | One or more targets are approaching their limit. |
| Red | One or more service targets have been breached. |
| Neutral | Service levels are paused or no longer apply. |
Select the indicator to view the metrics contributing to the current status.
How managers use service levels
Service levels help managers:
- Prioritize urgent work.
- Identify cases at risk of breaching targets.
- Balance workloads across teams.
- Monitor trends in employee satisfaction.
- Identify opportunities to improve service quality.
- Report on team performance.
Rather than focusing on a single metric, review SLA and XLA metrics together to understand both operational performance and employee experience.
Best practices
To get the most value from service levels:
- Configure realistic targets that reflect your organization's service commitments.
- Monitor both SLA and XLA metrics.
- Investigate repeated SLA breaches rather than isolated incidents.
- Review XLA trends to identify coaching opportunities.
- Adjust policies as business priorities change.
Frequently asked questions
Can a case have more than one SLA policy?
Yes. When multiple policies match a case, the strictest target is applied for each enabled metric.
Why is the service timer paused?
Some metrics pause while a case is Waiting or On Hold, depending on the policy configuration.
Why did a case breach its SLA but still receive a good survey score?
SLAs and XLAs measure different aspects of service. A case may exceed its target resolution time but still provide an excellent employee experience.
Should every metric be enabled?
Not necessarily. Configure the metrics that best support your organization's service objectives and reporting requirements.