When a client reports an outage or critical failure, every second matters. But while your team might respond in minutes, that doesn’t always mean the issue is resolved quickly. That’s why a rock-solid dispatch SLA strategy must differentiate clearly between response time and resolution time—and optimize both.
For MSPs, IT service aggregators, and enterprise support leaders, managing expectations and capacity across regions demands precision. This blog will guide you through defining, negotiating, and tracking these two critical SLA components for large-scale dispatch operations.
Service Level Agreements (SLAs) form the backbone of client trust. They tell your customers:
For white-label dispatch and multi-site operations, weak SLAs lead to:
To avoid that spiral, you need to clarify two key metrics: response time and resolution time.
Response time refers to how quickly your team acknowledges and engages after a service request is submitted.
This could mean:
Typical response SLA tiers might include:
The goal here is speed—but also certainty. Your client should never wonder if their ticket was received or ignored.
Resolution time is the period between ticket creation and issue completion—or successful workaround.
For example:
Unlike response time, which is often fixed, resolution time is more variable—depending on:
Many IT providers confuse—or oversell—the two metrics. But smart clients know the difference.
Fast response ≠ fast fix.
Failing to clarify this in your dispatch SLA strategy causes:
A retail client has a 4-hour SLA. Your field tech calls them within 10 minutes and schedules the visit for the next morning. Technically, the response time was excellent—but the resolution took 20 hours. Was the SLA met?
If you don’t distinguish clearly, your clients will.
Here’s how to craft an SLA that sets expectations and scales smoothly:
Segment by urgency and business impact. For example:
Each level should map to both response and resolution targets.
This is your commitment to engage, not to fix. Set these conservatively but competitively:
Then staff and route your dispatch operations accordingly.
For example:
| Issue Type | Resolution Target |
| Site-wide outage | 6 hours |
| Printer or device replacement | 12–24 hours |
| Cabling or infrastructure fault | 24–48 hours |
| Scheduled install | 3–5 days |
Let clients know you’ll provide workaround solutions where full fixes exceed the window.
If you offer 4-hour resolution—but only during 8am–5pm—say so explicitly.
Example:
“Tickets submitted after 5pm will be responded to by 9am the next business day. Emergency escalation procedures are available via our 24/7 line.”
If you’re scaling through white-label dispatch partners, make sure they:
Track this with shared dashboards and performance scorecards.
SLA reporting isn’t just for ops—it’s also sales ammo.
Use field service platforms or custom dashboards to monitor:
Break this down by region, technician, client, and ticket type. Use these metrics to:
Your SLA strategy isn’t just paperwork—it’s your brand in action.
Clear, consistent SLAs let your clients know they’re safe in your hands, even in moments of urgency.
Ready to structure a dispatch SLA system that scales with trust?
Check our services and let All IT Supported help you build a reliable, branded, and response-ready field network nationwide.
