Communication and response time expectations

The response time is simply the amount of time it takes for the support staff to respond to an issue raised by a user. It is the most important metric when it comes to delivering great user support service. Response times and issue resolution times can be defined through a software Services Level Agreement (SLA). The SLA is a contract between your business and your IT supplier who can be an external vendor or inhouse IT team. The SLA outlines acceptable levels of service as well as compensation you would receive if the supplier fails to provide those services.

Government institutions should develop software Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that inform users on what timelines they should expect for response time as well as issue resolution times. This is regardless of whether the software is internally supported or supported by an external software vendor. In the case of support provided by an external vendor the SLAs should be part of their support contract.

There should be communication to users on expectations for key SLA metrics such as response times. This ensures users understand what to expect and can provide a basis for escalation when the SLAs are not met.