The SLA sits with the customer
The response time is set per customer or per ticket. When the contact sends an email, teamspace assigns the SLA automatically as soon as the address is recognised.
SLA management for service providers: response times on the ticket at a glance.
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) sets out how quickly a service provider responds to an enquiry. In teamspace this response time is attached to the customer, assigned to every ticket automatically and runs visibly as a traffic light. Part of the Service Desk software in teamspace, with no module surcharge.
Scope
What SLA monitoring makes visible on the ticket.
An agreed response time only becomes a promise once everyone can see how much time is left. Three things make that happen.
The time remaining runs in plain view
The ticket shows how much response time is left, colour-coded as a traffic light by urgency. As the deadline approaches, a note goes out to everyone involved.
Stalled tickets are released by the deadline
If a ticket goes a set period without a change, the owner is released or the channel is switched. Every escalation appears in the history.
Assignment
The SLA sits with the customer, not the agent.
Whoever has promised a customer a response time records it as a Service Level Agreement against the customer, not against each individual ticket. When a contact of that customer sends an enquiry, teamspace fills in the SLA on its own as soon as the sender address is recognised.
- SLA per customer or per ticket, each with its own response time depending on the agreement. Several clients, several response times, one logic.
- Assigned automatically: the incoming email matches the CRM contact, and the right SLA sits on the ticket without anyone selecting it.
- A default project per customer comes along, so the service time later lands against the right account.
“Time tracking is far simpler and more convenient than in Excel.”
Time remaining
The time remaining changes colour before the deadline breaks.
A deadline kept in someone's head helps no one. The ticket shows the response time remaining in the open, and it changes colour the more pressing it becomes. So the team sees at a glance which enquiry comes next.
- Response time remaining right on the ticket, with no working out when the deadline ends.
- Traffic light by urgency: the time remaining is colour-coded, and as the deadline approaches a note goes out to everyone involved.
- Priority from 1 to 9, along with categories and colour markers, to order what comes first.
Business hours
At night and at the weekend the clock stops.
The SLA clock runs only within the defined business hours. The same enquiry, counted twice: once around the clock, once within business hours.
Ohne Bürozeit
Die Uhr läuft durch
- Ticket eröffnet
- Fr 16:00
- Antwortzeit
- 4 h durchgehend
- Frist
- Fr 20:00
Büro längst zu scheinbar gerissen
Nur Geschäftszeit zählt
Mit Bürozeit
Die Uhr pausiert
- Fr 16:00 – 18:00
- 2 h verbraucht
- Fr 18:00 → Mo 08:00
- pausiert
- Frist
- Mo 10:00
2 h Rest am Montag im Plan
Vier Stunden meinen vier Arbeitsstunden. Nacht, Wochenende und Feiertage zählen nicht zur Restzeit.
Intro call
Let's take a look at your response times.
Show us the agreed response times and business hours in your contracts. In 20 minutes we'll see where a visible deadline on the ticket takes the pressure out of the day.
Escalation
If a ticket stalls, the team takes over.
A ticket belongs to one person, the owner. That works well while they are there. If they are away or overlook an enquiry, the ticket must not stand still until someone notices.
- Time-based escalation: if a ticket doesn't change within the deadline, the owner is released automatically or the channel is switched.
- Holiday and illness don't hold it up: the ticket lands visibly with the channel team, instead of in an absent queue.
- Every escalation appears in the history, as an internal item. Traceable: which stage took effect, and when.
Scope
SLA monitoring in two areas.
What can be configured per customer, and what runs along on its own in operation.
Configuration
- Response time per customer or per ticket
- Business hours in which the SLA clock runs
- Automatic assignment via the sender address
- Default project per customer on the ticket
- Priority from 1 to 9, categories and colour markers
Monitoring
- Time remaining as a traffic light by urgency
- A note to everyone involved before the deadline
- Time-based escalation: owner released or channel switch
- Escalation as an internal item in the history
- Analysis of response time, time-to-resolution and volume
Use cases
Six ways through the Service Desk.
SLA monitoring sits in the ticket. These areas go deeper into what happens before and after, each on its own page.
Ticket system
Three ticket types, channels, statuses and responsibility in detail.
Learn moreTicketing software
Enquiries from email, phone and web service become one ticket.
Learn moreCustomer portal
Customers open tickets themselves and see the status.
Learn moreTicket billing
Service time billed to the minute, by interval or as a flat rate.
Learn moreTicket projects
Turn a ticket into a main project, sub-project or work package.
Learn moreOutlook add-in
Create a ticket from an email in Outlook.
Learn moreAnalysis
Response time and time-to-resolution in the report.
Whether the agreed response times hold shows not on the single ticket, but over the weeks. The ticket statistics make visible where the service runs smoothly and where enquiries are left behind.
- Volume and agent effort per period, so it becomes clear how much load sits on the Service Desk.
- Measured response time: how quickly enquiries were answered, alongside the time-to-resolution.
- Broken down by channel, so it becomes visible where things get tight.
teamspace in figures
Software with a history.
Behind the Service Desk stands a manufacturer that has been developing for the German-speaking SME market for more than twenty years.
- 1999
developed in Darmstadt
- 400
customers in the DACH region
- 20,000
active users
- EU
data processing exclusively
Comparison
Where an SLA on the ticket is more than a deadline note.
Where a connected SLA monitoring differs from a deadline in the calendar.
Feature
Deadline in the calendar
teamspace
Recommended Response time held per customer
manual
Assigned to the ticket automatically
Time remaining as a traffic light on the ticket
SLA clock runs only during business hours
A note before the deadline
varies
Time-based escalation when the deadline stalls
Escalation documented as an internal item
Response time and time-to-resolution analysed
varies
Service time billed from the ticket
Hosting in the ISO 27001 data centre in Frankfurt
varies
Security
SLA data stays in Germany.
The tickets hold what matters to customers: terms, agreements, internal notes. teamspace processes this data exclusively in the EU, without management having to worry about the infrastructure.
- Hosting in two geo-redundant, ISO 27001-certified data centres in Frankfurt am Main, with processing exclusively in the EU.
- GDPR-compliant by design, with a data processing agreement as standard.
- Encryption: TLS in transit, storage volumes in the data centre encrypted with AES-256.
- Made in Germany: development, support and operation by 5 POINT AG, based in Darmstadt since 1999.
At a glance
SLA monitoring is one part of the Service Desk.
The SLA keeps the single response time in view. How teamspace runs the whole service, from channels through status and escalation to billing from the ticket, is shown in the Service Desk software overview.
To the Service Desk softwareContext
When SLA monitoring pays off.
A Service Level Agreement governs how quickly a service provider responds to an enquiry. SLA monitoring makes sure this promise isn't buried in a contract file, but runs visibly on the ticket: with the time remaining, a note before the deadline and an escalation should no one respond.
The effort doesn't pay off from the first maintenance contract, but from the point at which several customers with different response times come together. As soon as a customer with a short agreed response time has to be served faster than the rest, and as soon as service time delivered is to go on the invoice, the deadline in your head no longer holds. From there, teamspace keeps every agreed response time on the right ticket, counts it only during business hours and passes a stalled ticket on by itself.
Glossary
Terms around SLAs and response time.
Frequently confused terms, placed precisely in the teamspace model.
- SLA
- Service Level Agreement. A response time held per customer or per ticket. On the ticket, the system shows the time remaining and warns before the deadline.
- Response time
- The promised time until a reaction to an enquiry. It is held as an SLA and carried on the ticket as the time remaining.
- Business hours
- The defined business hours in which the SLA clock runs. Nights, weekends and public holidays don't count towards the time remaining.
- Traffic light
- The colour-coding of the time remaining by urgency. The tighter the time, the clearer the signal, complemented by a note before the deadline.
- Escalation
- A time-based rule. If a ticket goes a set deadline without a change, the owner is released automatically or the channel is switched, documented as an internal item.
- Priority
- A rating from 1 to 9, complemented by categories and colour markers, that orders which enquiry is handled first.
- Time-to-resolution
- The time a ticket was open from arrival to completion. It is analysed in the ticket statistics alongside the response time.
- Default project
- A project held per customer that is assigned to every ticket. This way the service time booked on the ticket lands against the right account.
Related modules
What SLA monitoring depends on.
A deadline rarely stands alone: the customer in the CRM, the project behind it, the hour that is booked. Here are the shortest routes there.
CRM software
The SLA sits with the customer record, and every incoming email matches the customer file via the sender address.
- SLA held per customer
- Email sender becomes a contact
- Customer file on the live item
Project management
A growing matter becomes a ticket project with its own structure, progress and finances.
- Ticket project in one step
- Main project, sub-project or work package
- Ticket and project firmly linked
Time tracking online
Service hours are booked straight from the ticket onto the project and form the basis for billing.
- Booking from the ticket
- Billable or internal, kept apart
- The basis for invoicing
Frequently asked questions about SLA management in teamspace
How is an SLA assigned to a ticket?
The response time is held per customer or per ticket. When a contact of that customer sends an enquiry, teamspace assigns the SLA automatically as soon as the sender address is recognised. No one has to enter the deadline by hand.
Does the SLA time count at night and at the weekend too?
No, provided business hours are defined. The SLA clock runs only within the defined business hours. An agreed response time of four hours then means four working hours and does not expire overnight.
What happens when a deadline is about to break?
The time remaining appears on the ticket and is colour-coded by urgency; before the deadline a note goes out to everyone involved. If a ticket goes a set deadline without a change, the time-based escalation takes effect: the owner is released automatically or the channel is switched. Every escalation appears as an internal item in the history.
How do we see how well we're holding the response times?
Through the ticket statistics. They analyse volume, agent effort, time-to-resolution and the measured response time, broken down by channel. This makes visible where the service runs smoothly and where enquiries are left behind.
Can a separate response time be set per customer?
Yes. An SLA is held per customer or per ticket, each with its own response time. Several clients with different response times run in one logic, without the deadlines getting muddled.
Is the SLA linked to time tracking and billing?
Yes. A default project per customer sits on the ticket, so service time can be booked straight from the ticket onto the project. The actual billing then runs in invoicing. More on Ticket billing.
Intro call
Your response times discussed in 20 minutes.
We'll look at your SLA stages, business hours and escalation and tell you whether teamspace fits your service.