First response time calculator
See your median and average first response time, the share of customers answered within your target and how sure that number is. Then compare channels and see what instant replies would change. Free, no sign-up, nothing leaves your browser.
Made by Anatolii Ulitovskyi 
Fact-checked by RH Fardin Updated Reply in seconds, not hours
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The method
How to calculate first response time
The time from a customer's first message to the first reply from a person or an agent.
Measure every conversation in a period, then report three numbers: the median, the average and the share answered within your target. Automatic "we got your message" emails are not a first response: count only a reply that starts to help the customer.
About 9 min
500th of 1,000, in the 5–15 min range
Half the customers waited less than this.
69%
(120 + 260 + 310) ÷ 1,000 = 69%
Answered within 15 minutes.
1 h 11 min
Pulled up by 130 slow replies
Estimated from the middle of each time range.
Statistics
Median or average?
A few very slow replies distort the average.
In the example, most customers got an answer within 15 minutes, yet the average is over an hour because 40 conversations waited more than 4 hours. The median shows the typical experience; the average shows how bad the tail is; the share on target is the number customers feel and the easiest to set a goal for. Track all three, and look at the slowest conversations one by one.
Expectations
What customers expect
Speed matters most at the first reply.
In HubSpot research from 2018, 90% of customers said an immediate response is important or very important when they have a customer service question, and 82% said the same for marketing and sales questions. For sales leads, a study published in Harvard Business Review found that firms that replied within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify the lead as firms that waited one hour longer.
Working hours
Business hours or calendar hours?
Decide once and say which one you report.
Many help desks can count only business hours, which makes a message sent on Friday evening and answered on Monday morning look fast. Customers count calendar hours. Report the calendar-hours number at least once a month, because that is the wait your customers actually feel, and it shows how much of your volume arrives outside working hours.
Spreadsheets
First response time formulas for Excel and Google Sheets
One conversation per row: first response time in minutes in column B, from B2 to B1001.
Median and average
Share answered within 15 minutes
First response time from two timestamps
Conversation start in C2 and first reply in D2, as date and time; the result is in minutes.
FAQ
First response time questions
How do you calculate first response time?
For each conversation, subtract the time it started from the time of the first real reply. Then report the median, the average and the share answered within your target for the period.
What is a good first response time?
It depends on the channel and on what you promise: customers expect live chat in minutes and email in hours. Set a target per channel, publish it, and measure the share of conversations that meet it.
What is the difference between first response time and resolution time?
First response time ends with the first reply; resolution time ends when the problem is solved. A fast first reply that does not help still leaves the customer waiting for a resolution.
Does an automatic reply count?
An automatic confirmation does not. An AI agent that answers the question does, because the customer gets help, but report it separately so you can see how fast your team replies to the rest.
Why is my average so much higher than my median?
A few conversations that waited many hours or days pull the average up. Find them: they usually arrive at night, at weekends or in a channel nobody watches.
How can I reduce first response time?
Route conversations to the right team at once, cover evenings and weekends, prepare answers to frequent questions, and let an AI agent answer the questions your help content already covers.
Does the calculator store my data?
No. Everything runs in your browser. The share link keeps your numbers in the address after the # sign, which is not sent to our server.
References
Sources
- Customer expectations: HubSpot Research, 2018, as reported in "82% of Consumers Expect Immediate Response on Sales or Marketing Questions", Small Business Trends, July 2018
- Lead response time: James B. Oldroyd, Kristina McElheran and David Elkington, "The Short Life of Online Sales Leads", Harvard Business Review, March 2011
- Confidence range: Edwin B. Wilson, "Probable Inference, the Law of Succession, and Statistical Inference", Journal of the American Statistical Association, 1927
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