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Customer Service vocabulary · Service Metrics & Quality

SLA

Meaning in customer service, with examples

/ˌes el ˈeɪ/abbreviationCommon term

In customer service, SLA means: Service level agreement: a written agreement that sets the standard of service a provider must deliver, such as response and resolution times.

In Turkish: hizmet seviyesi sözleşmesi, hizmet düzeyi taahhüdü, SLA

How it is used

Used with business clients and inside companies: "Our SLA is a four-hour response for urgent tickets." A ticket breaches the SLA if it is not handled in time. In call centres, service level also means the share of calls answered within a target time, such as 80 percent in 20 seconds.

Example sentences

  1. This ticket will breach the SLA in 30 minutes, so please pick it up now.

  2. Our SLA with the client promises a response within one business hour.

Common collocations

  • meet the SLA
  • breach the SLA
  • SLA target
  • within SLA
  • service level
  • response timeThe time between a customer contacting a company and receiving a reply, often measured in minutes for chat and in hours for email.
  • priorityThe level of importance or urgency given to a ticket, which decides how quickly it should be handled.
  • resolutionThe solution to a problem or complaint, or the point at which it is fully solved.
  • first contact resolutionSolving a customer's problem completely in their first call, chat or email, so they do not need to contact the company again; also the percentage of cases solved this way.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Service Metrics & Quality

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