TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Create a new SLA policy
• Define escalation rules
• Frequently asked questions

Once the ticket has elapsed its response time or resolution time set, it becomes overdue and has to be taken care of immediately. This might happen every now and then when an agent goes on a vacation or falls sick. During this time, It is better to escalate the ticket to another agent for immediate action. This can be defined in the SLA policies that you create.

Create a new SLA policy

• To modify global workflows, go to Admin > Global Settings > SLA and OLA policies.

  To modify workspace-level workflows, go to Admin > {Workspace Settings} > SLA and OLA policies.
  
  

  Important Notes:
  
  1. Workspace admins can create SLA policies at a workspace level.
  2. Global SLA policies apply to tickets across all workspaces
  3. Default SLA policy is created and enabled by default at the global level.
  
  Order of execution: The SLA policy for the ticket is determined by the local
  SLA policies created for a specific workspace. If the specified conditions in the local SLA policies do not match, then it follows the global policy. If both do not apply, then the default SLA policy becomes applicable to the ticket.

  
  
• Choose New SLA policy. 
• Give a new name to the policy you are creating and a brief description about it.
• Now for each priority level, choose the ticket response time, resolution time, whether the SLA is in business or calendar hours.

Define escalation rules

The escalation rules can also be established when creating custom SLAs. For example, you can choose who you want to escalate the ticket to when the ticket hasn't been resolved for a specific time interval.

You can set up to four levels of Escalations, for ticket resolution and one level for ticket response.

You can configure ticket escalation to be group-specific. You could configure each of your groups to escalate tickets to an agent belong to that specific group.

Note: Admins can now define internal Operational Level Agreements (OLA) on tickets/problems/changes and release (TPCR) tasks. This will dictate the time within which Agents should complete Tasks inside the TPCR, ensuring continuous service delivery and compliance. More details here.

Frequently asked questions

1. What do status flags such as "No ongoing shift" and "No escalation path" mean under the responder tab, and how do on-call notifications behave for assigned, resolved, or closed tickets?

Flags like "No ongoing shift" or "No escalation path" indicate schedule gaps where no agent is currently on shift or no backup escalation tier is mapped. On-call notifications stop automatically when a ticket is marked as resolved or closed. If a ticket is assigned to an agent, on-call paging continues until the agent actively acknowledges the notification.

2. How can an SLA reminder be created for the first response due in Freshservice, and are there placeholders or methods to configure custom pre-breach reminders for the first response SLA?

To enable the default reminder, navigate to Admin > Email Notifications > Agent Notifications and toggle on First Response SLA Reminder. For custom pre-breach timings or group alerts, create a Time-based rule in Admin > Workflow Automator or install the SLA Reminder App from the Freshworks Marketplace. Dynamic placeholders like {{ticket.first_response_due_by}} are natively supported in notification templates.

3. Why are SLA notifications triggering for the wrong group leads and managers in Freshservice, and how can this be resolved?

SLA escalations execute on Freshservice backend servers, so client browser cache does not affect trigger logic. This issue occurs when escalation targets are misconfigured in the SLA policy. To resolve it, go to Admin > SLA and OLA Policies, edit the policy's escalation rule, and update the target recipient to "Agent Group" or "Group Lead." Then, verify group membership under Admin > [Workspace Name] > User Management > Agent Groups.

4. How can different SLA escalation rules and times be set for agents based on ticket priority levels such as urgent, high, medium, and low?

SLA policies natively support priority-based escalation rules. Go to Admin > SLA and OLA Policies, edit your policy matrix, and define distinct response times, resolution times, and escalation recipients for each priority level (Urgent, High, Medium, Low). For complex, multi-tiered escalations that extend beyond native SLA boundaries, set up Time-based rules in Admin > Workflow Automator.

5. Why are escalation emails being sent only to the assigned agent and not to the service delivery group in Freshservice?

This occurs when the recipient selection in the escalation configuration is set strictly to the assigned agent. To fix this, go to Admin > SLA and OLA Policies, edit the active policy, and click Set Escalation Hierarchy (or Set Escalation Rule). Open the recipient dropdown next to the timing threshold, change the target from "Assigned Agent" to "Agent Group" (selecting the Service Delivery group) or "Group Lead," and save the policy.