Track the amount of time spent crafting a response. This is an internal/productivity point-of-view metric focused solely on how long a teammate works on writing a message.
Example use case: Charlie always has a much lower handle time because he leverages message templates to reduce the time spent writing each reply.
Definition
Time between starting an outbound reply draft and sending it. Doesn't take business hours or shifts into consideration.
Starting a draft is a requirement for registering handle time. The timer does not begin to record the metric until you open a draft. This is a crucial productivity metric that helps you track how long your teammates spend working on conversations.
In conversations where the composer is open by default, the handle timetimer starts when a teammate opens a conversation and will only be updated if the teammate actively works on the draft or sends it. If the teammate opens a conversation, does not act on the draft and then opens another conversation, this time won't count as handle time. This applies to the following channels:
Front Chat
Google Play
Intercom
Talkdesk
Twilio SMS
Twilio WhatsApp
Yalo WhatsApp
Custom channels that have a synchronous/chat-like timeline
Handle time is not impacted by business hours or any shifts that teammate is on.
Handle time will start from the time a teammate clicks on the Reply button in a message, meaning a draft has been started.
Handle time is used to measure the time spent actually working on crafting a reply. It is a great tool to measure the work a teammate has to put into answering an individual email.
If you open conversation A for 5 minutes, then open conversation B, but then return to conversation A and start a draft, the first 5 minutes would not be counted toward conversation A's handle time, since a draft was not started in the first session.
Handle time is counted only for the time a conversation is viewed by a teammate. Ex: Jane opens conversation A, starts a draft and works on it for 1 minute but does not send it. She moves to conversation B for 10 min, goes back to conversation A, works on it for 2 more min and hits send. The handle time recorded will be 3 min.
Handle time is not recorded if you don't send a reply. If Jane opens conversation 1, read it for 10 min and then moves on, there will be no handle time recorded.
With shared drafts, all handle times are tracked for each teammate separately, but only the handle time of the sender is recorded. Ex: Jane and Mary both work on a shared draft. Jane works on it for 4 min before Mary takes over the draft, works on it for 2 min and hits send. The handle time recorded will be attributed to Mary and will be 2 min.
The analytics track each teammate who replies in a conversation, regardless of the official assignee of the conversation. If a conversation is assigned to Mary, but Sophia responds because she is unavailable, Sophia will get a reaction time, a reply time, and a handle time.
Handle time is capped at 60 min, to eliminate outliers (computer goes to sleep, multiple tabs open, lunch break, etc.). If you take a 59 min lunch break, the best way to handle that is to look at another conversation and then go back to the initial one and start your draft.
