Many support teams want to track Average Chat Resolution Time to understand how long live chats take from start to finish. However, BoldDesk does not offer a direct metric for Average Chat Resolution Time in live chat dashboards or analytics. Instead, BoldDesk provides SLA-based residual metrics. These don’t measure the total chat duration, but they do show how efficiently agents handle chats compared to SLA targets.

The available metrics are:

• Average First Response Residual Time – how quickly agents send the first reply within SLA.
• Average Next Response Residual Time – how fast agents respond after the first reply.
• Average Resolution Residual Time – how long it takes to resolve or close a chat based on SLA expectations.

These metrics are available in the Agent or Group Performance Dashboard, and Chat SLA Dashboard.

While BoldDesk doesn’t show a single “start-to-finish” chat duration, these metrics together provide useful insight into agent responsiveness and how efficiently chats are moved toward resolution.

Where to Find Chat Residual Metrics in BoldDesk

Follow these steps to locate the available metrics:

1. Navigate to: Reports → Agent or Group Performance Dashboard → Chat tab
2. On the third widget, check the metrics
3. Review Metrics in the Third Widget

• Average First Response Residual Time
• Average Next Response Residual Time
• Average Resolution Residual Time
• (Plus other SLA-related metrics depending on dashboard)

These represent BoldDesk’s closest available metrics for evaluating chat completion efficiency, even though they do not measure the full start‑to‑finish resolution duration.

How to Use Residual Metrics to Evaluate Chat Completion Efficiency

Because BoldDesk does not expose “Average Chat Resolution Time,” use the residual metrics to evaluate whether chat handling is trending faster or slower against SLA expectations:

• Improving (more favorable) Average Resolution Residual Time indicates chats are being resolved closer to (or ahead of) the SLA target.
• Improving First Response and Next Response residual times indicate faster conversational pacing, which often correlates with faster closure, but does not measure total duration end-to-end.

Human Hours Saved in Chat

BoldDesk uses the same residual metrics—first response residual time, next response residual time, and resolution residual time—as indicators for Human Hours Saved through AI-powered chat automation.

Troubleshooting: Why Chat Residual Metrics Are Missing

User cannot see Reports: The user role does not include permission to access Reports dashboards.
Wrong dashboard/tab: The residual chat metrics are shown under Agent/Group Performance Dashboard → Chat tab, specifically in the third widget.
Expecting “Average Chat Resolution Time”: BoldDesk does not provide this metric; only residual SLA metrics are available.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Does BoldDesk provide a direct “Average Chat Resolution Time”?
   No. BoldDesk provides residual SLA metrics for chat instead of an absolute start-to-finish chat duration metric.

2. Do residual SLA metrics equal start-to-finish chat duration?
   No. Residual metrics measure performance relative to SLA targets, not total chat duration.

3. Where can chat SLA compliance metrics be found?
   Use Reports → Chat SLA Dashboard.

4. Can chat performance data be exported?
   Export capability is mentioned, but export format, scope, and exact steps are not specified in the provided content.

5. Do AI improvements affect these residual metrics?
   Yes. Faster responses and faster resolution generally improve the residual SLA metrics.