First response time

First response time (FRT) measures how long a customer waits before hearing back from you. It applies to any inbound contact: support tickets, emails, chats, texts, voicemails and new sales inquiries. For new leads, the same measure is often called speed to lead.

How to measure it

First response time is simple to define and easy to measure inconsistently. Decide these points up front:

• What counts as a response. Most teams exclude automatic acknowledgements and count the first reply that addresses the request, whether it comes from a person or an AI agent.
• Which hours. Measure in calendar hours, business hours or both. Calendar hours show the customer's experience; business hours show staff performance.
• Which statistic. Use the median and a high percentile, such as the 90th, rather than the average.
• Which channel. Report each channel separately. A call answered live has an FRT of zero; a voicemail or missed call does not.

How it differs from related measures

First response time is not resolution time. A fast first reply that does not move the issue forward improves the number without helping the customer, so track both. It also differs from answer rate, which counts how many calls are picked up at all.

How it relates to Worcia

An omnichannel inbox makes FRT visible across channels. Concierge, Worcia's AI receptionist, responds at any hour, and Cadenza, its lead follow-up system, records response times in the CRM. See How to stop missing business calls after hours.