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SLA Timers

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) timer is a countdown clock attached to every job that tracks how much time remains before the guaranteed completion deadline. SLA timers are a core part of FSM Navigator® — they drive the auto-assignment and workload rebalancing systems, ensuring the right technician is matched to each job with enough time to finish.

Why SLA timers matter

Without SLA timers, it is impossible to know which jobs are at risk of missing their deadline. SLA timers give you:

  • Time remaining — see how much time remains on every active job.
  • Automated prioritization — the system uses SLA deadlines to schedule and assign work.
  • Accountability — track whether your team meets its service commitments.
  • Customer trust — deliver on the response times you promised.

SLA is required on every job

Every job must have an SLA due date. The auto-assignment engine and rebalancing system depend on SLA deadlines to prioritize and distribute work. Jobs without an SLA deadline cannot be processed by these systems.

Setting an SLA timer

You set the SLA deadline when creating a job. The SLA due date field defines the absolute deadline by which the job must reach Completed status.

How to set the SLA due date

  1. Open the Create Job form from the dashboard or Jobs page.
  2. In the SLA due date field, select a date and time.
  3. Save the job. The countdown begins automatically when a technician is assigned.
Field Description
SLA due date The date and time by which the job must be completed.
Priority Works alongside the SLA timer — Urgent jobs with tight SLAs are scheduled first.

Match SLA to your service agreements

Set SLA deadlines based on the service level you promised the customer. For example, an emergency repair might have a 4-hour SLA, while routine maintenance could have a 48-hour window.

Days your company is closed

When the deadline is worked out from a number of hours — the customer's response time, your company default, or the hours entered when the job is created — those hours count around the clock on every day your company is open, and stop on the days it is closed. Closed days are the days marked Closed in your business hours, plus any dates listed as closed on your booking page.

For example, with Saturday and Sunday closed, a job created at 4:00 PM on Friday with a 24-hour response time counts 8 hours on Friday, pauses over the weekend, and is due at 4:00 PM on Monday.

A date and time you type into the SLA due date field is kept exactly as you entered it. If you have never saved business hours, the standard week applies (Monday to Friday open, Saturday and Sunday closed) — the same week the Business Hours panel shows you. If every day of the week is marked closed, the clock never pauses and every day counts. Jobs created before this rule was added keep the deadline they already had.

The same rule applies to work-order SLAs, to recurring jobs and recurring work orders, and to a cancelled job you reopen. When you put a job or a work order on hold, the time it has left is counted the same way, so the closed days ahead of its deadline are not charged to it, and when it resumes that time runs again only on open days. The "approaching" warning and the at-risk counts on your dashboards also measure the last 2 hours in open-day time, so a closed day just before a deadline does not hide a job that is about to be due.

How the countdown works

The SLA timer does not start the moment you create a job. It follows the job status lifecycle and responds to status changes automatically.

Job status SLA timer behavior
Pending Timer has not started — waiting for technician assignment.
Assigned Timer starts counting down toward the SLA deadline.
In Transit Timer continues running while the technician is en route.
Arrived Timer continues running once the technician is on-site, before work begins.
In Progress Timer continues running.
On Hold Timer pauses — paused time is excluded from SLA calculations.
Completed Timer stops. The job details page shows the result: Met or Missed, with the completion time.
Cancelled Timer stops. No SLA result is recorded.
Declined Timer stops. No SLA result is recorded.

Paused time is excluded

When a job is placed On Hold — for example, waiting on parts or customer approval — the SLA timer pauses. This ensures your team is not penalized for delays outside their control. The timer resumes automatically when the job returns to In Progress.

SLA status colors

The SLA timer uses a color-coded indicator so you can assess deadlines at a glance — on the job card, in list views, and in the mobile app.

The color is based on how much time is left until the deadline, not on the percentage of the window used:

Color Status Time remaining
Green On track More than 24 hours.
Yellow Keep an eye on it 24 hours or less.
Amber Act soon 4 hours or less.
Red Urgent or breached 90 minutes or less — or the deadline has already passed.

Amber means act now

Once a timer reaches amber there are under four hours left. Dispatchers should review these jobs and consider reassigning if the current technician cannot finish on time. Red means the job either has under 90 minutes or is already overdue.

Pause and resume behavior

The SLA timer pauses automatically when a job moves to On Hold and resumes when it returns to In Progress.

When to put a job on hold

  • Waiting for replacement parts to arrive.
  • Customer requested a reschedule.
  • Awaiting customer approval to proceed.
  • Weather or safety conditions prevent work.

What happens when you resume

  1. The timer picks up exactly where it left off.
  2. The remaining time is recalculated, excluding all paused duration.
  3. The SLA status color updates immediately based on the adjusted remaining time.

SLA breach consequences

When the SLA deadline passes before the job is marked Completed, the timer enters breached status.

  • The timer badge turns red on all views — dashboard, job list, Kanban board, and mobile app.
  • The breach is recorded permanently in the job's history for reporting purposes.
  • Breached jobs appear in SLA performance reports so you can identify patterns and improve.

Use SLA reports to improve

Review your SLA performance in the KPI dashboard to identify recurring breach patterns. Common causes include underestimating travel time, overloading specific technicians, and setting unrealistic deadlines.

Viewing the SLA timer

The SLA countdown is visible in several places throughout the platform:

  • Job details page — a prominent timer showing hours and minutes remaining. Once the job is completed it shows Met or Missed instead.
  • Job list view — a small SLA badge with the color-coded status.
  • Kanban board — each job card displays the SLA status.
  • Mobile app — technicians see the remaining time on every assigned job.
  • Calendar view — jobs with tight SLA deadlines are highlighted.

SLA and auto-assignment

The SLA deadline is one of the primary factors used by the auto-assignment system. When the system selects a technician for a job, it considers:

  • Whether the technician can reach the service location in time.
  • Whether adding the job to the technician's schedule still allows all existing SLA deadlines to be met.
  • Whether redistributing work across the team would better protect at-risk SLAs.

Frequently asked questions

Can I change the SLA deadline after creating a job?

Yes. Open the job details page and edit the SLA due date field. The timer recalculates immediately based on the new deadline.

What happens if I never assign a technician?

The SLA timer does not start until the job moves to Assigned status. However, the deadline clock is still ticking — if no technician is assigned before the due date, the job will be breached upon assignment.

Is the SLA timer available on all plans?

Yes. SLA timers are included on all plans, including the Free tier. They are a core part of every job.

Can I set different SLA policies for different customers?

SLA deadlines are set per-job, so you can customize the deadline for each service call based on the customer's contract or service level.

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