Introduction

  • 4 minutes

A service-level agreement (SLA) defines a measurable service commitment between an organization and its customers. In Dynamics 365 Customer Service, SLAs connect those commitments to records such as cases and track whether service representatives meet them.

Each commitment uses an SLA key performance indicator (KPI). An SLA KPI measures a time-based service outcome, such as when a representative sends the first response or resolves a case. Dynamics 365 Customer Service includes standard KPI fields, and organizations can create custom SLA KPIs for other supported tables and outcomes.

Connect service commitments to case work

An SLA brings several configuration elements together:

  • Customer service schedules define working days, hours, breaks, and time zones.
  • Holiday schedules identify closures that don't consume business time.
  • SLA KPIs identify the service outcomes to measure.
  • SLA items define when a KPI applies, its success criteria, warning and failure times, and associated actions.
  • SLA KPI instances track the status and timing of each applicable KPI on an individual record.

For example, an organization promises a first response within four business hours for high-priority cases. A case created at 3:00 PM might have a target of 10:00 AM the next business day when the customer service schedule ends at 5:00 PM and resumes at 8:00 AM. A 24-hour schedule produces a different target for the same four-hour commitment.

SLA items can also perform actions as a KPI progresses. A warning action might notify the case owner before the target expires. A failure action might escalate the case, and a success action might update the record after the representative meets the commitment. Later units examine these criteria, durations, and actions in detail.

Plan an SLA configuration

Before configuring an SLA, identify:

  • The records and customers that receive the commitment.
  • The service outcomes that the organization measures.
  • The working hours, holidays, and time zones that affect elapsed business time.
  • The conditions that start, pause, resume, succeed, or stop each KPI.
  • The actions and notifications required before and after a target is missed.
  • The roles responsible for configuration, monitoring, and corrective action.

This module explains how to configure schedules, SLA KPIs, SLAs, and SLA items. It also explains how to apply SLAs to records and monitor their KPI instances.