Why is my "First reply time" higher than "First resolution time" in my Explore report?

Question

In my Explore report, I am using the metrics First reply time and First resolution time. The First reply time is higher than the First resolution time. What causes the agent reply time to be higher than the ticket resolution time?

Answer

A common cause for a lower average First resolution time occurs when a ticket is created in Solved ticket status or solved without an agent reply shortly after it is created.

If you have a business rule or process that automatically Solves certain tickets, those tickets will have a low or First resolution time and a null First reply time value. These tickets count towards the First resolution time average, but they do not count towards the First reply time average because there is no agent reply for these tickets.

If you wish to adjust for these types of tickets, this will require a custom metric in Explore or a report to filter for only tickets that received an agent reply.

For more information, see the articles: