SLAs

SLAs (Service Level Agreement) give your team a clear framework for response times, along with the visibility and alerts needed to meet them consistently.

Note: SLAs in Plain are only applied when a thread requires action from your internal support team. If a customer message doesn't need a response – for example, a confirmation or thank-you – no SLA will be active.

How SLAs Work in Practice

When you set an SLA, you define:

Time thresholds – e.g. 4 hours for first response
Warning thresholds – e.g. alert 30 minutes before breach
Notification methods – workspace notifications, email, or webhook
Business hours – if enabled, the SLA timer pauses outside working hours

This gives your team time to act before a breach occurs – not just react afterward.

Supported SLA Types

Plain currently supports two key types of SLAs:

First Response Time – time to send the first reply to a new customer message
Next Response Time – time to reply to any subsequent customer message

You must configure a First Response SLA before setting a Next Response SLA

Priorities and Tier-Based SLAs

SLAs can be linked to thread priority, allowing you to respond faster to higher-impact issues.

For example:

“Urgent” threads → 1 hour first response SLA
“Normal” threads → 4 hour first response SLA

You can also create tier-based SLAs, which is particularly useful for B2B teams that offer different levels of service across plans (e.g. Free vs. Enterprise).

To apply SLAs by tier:

Define a tier in Settings → Tiers
Mark one tier as the default (for catch-all rules)
Apply SLA policies per tier as needed

If multiple SLAs apply to the same priority or tier, only the first one listed will be used.

Breach Alerts and Automation

Plain keeps your team informed of SLA status so nothing slips:

Breach warnings and breach notifications are sent through your configured workspace notifications
You can also trigger custom workflows via the Thread SLA status transitioned webhook, which fires when a thread’s SLA state changes (e.g. approaching breach, breaching, resolved)

This lets you automate escalations or trigger external tools when response times are at risk.

Business Hours

By default, SLAs count time 24/7. You can change this to only count business hours.

To do this:

Go to Settings → Business hours
Define your working schedule (e.g. Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm)
Toggle on Only during business hours when configuring your SLA

Example:

Business hours: Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm
An Enterprise customer emails Friday at 4:30pm
SLA: 1 hour First Response

Your team has 30 minutes remaining on Friday, and the clock resumes Monday at 9:00am – meaning the SLA will breach at 9:30am Monday if no reply is sent.

This helps teams honour SLAs in a way that’s fair and realistic – especially for global or follow-the-sun teams.