Glossary · Customer Satisfaction
First Response Time
How long a customer waits for your first reply. The single metric that shapes support perception most.
First Response Time in Practice
FRT is a leading indicator. If FRT rises, CSAT will follow within one to two weeks. Monitor FRT daily, not monthly.
Common failure modes:
- Auto-replies counted as first response (they aren't)
- No measurement outside business hours
- Mixing all channels into a single metric
Track FRT by channel, by priority and by agent. The aggregate number hides the variation that actually moves CSAT.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on channel. Live chat: under 1 minute. Phone: under 30 seconds to agent. Email: under 4 hours in business hours, under 24 hours overall. Social media: under 1 hour. SLA commitments should be set 20-30% faster than the customer actually expects.
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