# What is Resolution Time?

> Elapsed time from a ticket's creation to its final resolution.

Canonical: https://www.decimal.app/glossary/resolution-time · Last reviewed: 2026-09-23

Resolution time measures how long a ticket takes to be solved, including waiting periods. It's often reported as a median and a 90th percentile.

## Why it matters

It's the customer's experience in one number. The long tail is usually escalated tickets waiting on engineering.

## Best practices

1. Report percentiles. Medians hide the worst experiences.
2. Split by escalation. Show escalated and non-escalated separately.
3. Pause for customer wait. If your SLA allows it, so you measure your own time.

## How Decimal helps

Decimal shortens resolution time most on the long tail, where tickets used to wait days for an engineer to investigate.

## Related terms

- [Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR)](https://www.decimal.app/glossary/mttr): The average time from when an issue is reported to when it's fixed.
- [First Response Time (FRT)](https://www.decimal.app/glossary/first-response-time): How long a customer waits for the first human or agent reply to a ticket.
- [Service Level Agreement (SLA)](https://www.decimal.app/glossary/sla): A contractual commitment on response or resolution times.
- [Average Handle Time (AHT)](https://www.decimal.app/glossary/average-handle-time): The average time an agent spends actively working a ticket, from open to wrap-up.

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