Introducing SLAs: Bring response targets into the Inbox

Support teams promise speed all the time. “We’ll get back to you soon.” “We’re on it.” “We’ll take care of this quickly.”

But without a clear way to track those commitments, “soon” can become subjective. Some conversations get answered right away, while others may sit longer than they should. And over time, it becomes harder to know what’s actually on track.

Service level agreements (SLAs) in Help Scout make those expectations explicit, so every conversation has a clear timeline from the moment it starts.

See what needs attention and prioritize your inbox

With SLAs, you define how quickly your team should respond to and resolve conversations by setting first reply time and time to resolution targets. Once set, Help Scout applies them automatically. New conversations are matched to the right SLA based on the conditions you define, so no one has to manage priorities manually. 

SLAs are visible directly in your inbox. Each conversation shows how much time is left before it breaches its target, along with whether it’s on track or falling behind. 

Instead of checking timestamps or guessing what’s urgent, your team can scan the inbox and quickly understand which conversations need a reply, which are approaching their limit, and which are already overdue. All of that information updates in real time as conversations move forward.

Adapt SLAs to different customers and changing conversations

Most teams already handle conversations with different levels of urgency. Some customers expect faster responses. Some issues need immediate attention. Others can wait a little longer without impacting the customer experience.

With SLA policies, you can reflect those differences directly in your workflow. Define response and resolution targets based on customer attributes, company, or request type, so each conversation is held to the right standard.

And as conversations progress, SLAs stay in sync. The clock starts when a conversation is created, tracks time to first reply, then shifts to resolution after your team responds. If a conversation reopens later, the SLA updates to reflect the new state of the work.

Spot issues early and improve team performance over time

When a conversation misses its target, it’s always easy to see. Missed SLAs are clearly surfaced in the inbox and within each conversation, so nothing slips by unnoticed. But more importantly, they give your team something to act on. Instead of discovering delays in your reporting dashboards after the fact, you can step in, reassess, and move conversations forward before they become missed targets.

Over time, these patterns help teams reduce delays, refine workflows, and deliver more consistent support.

SLAs bring structure to how your team responds and resolves conversations. Every conversation comes with a clear target, visible progress, and the context your team needs to stay on track. It’s a simpler way to keep work moving, priorities clear, and responses consistent as your support volume grows. SLAs are now available for Pro customers, and will be available across all plans by April 15, 2026.