What is MTTR (Mean Time to Resolution)?

MTTR (Mean Time to Resolution) is the average time it takes to fully resolve a customer issue, from first report to confirmed fix. Unlike response time, it measures end-to-end resolution speed — making it a strong indicator of how effectively your team and tools close problems, not just acknowledge them.

What MTTR measures

MTTR spans the entire lifecycle of an issue: the customer reports it, the team investigates, escalates if needed, fixes it, and confirms resolution. Because it captures everything between report and fix, a high MTTR points to bottlenecks — slow escalations, missing knowledge, or hand-offs that stall.

How to improve MTTR

Shorten the path to resolution: give agents complete context, reduce escalation layers, and document fixes so the next occurrence resolves fast. Deflecting and instantly resolving the common issues with an AI agent also pulls MTTR down by removing the simple cases that would otherwise sit in the queue.

Formula

MTTR = Total resolution time ÷ Number of resolved issues

Example: If it took 240 hours to resolve 80 tickets, MTTR = 240 ÷ 80 = 3 hours per ticket.

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Questions about MTTR (Mean Time to Resolution)

Is MTTR the same as response time?

No. Response time is how long until the first reply; MTTR is how long until the issue is fully resolved. A team can have a fast response time and still a slow MTTR if issues drag on after the first reply.

What does MTTR stand for?

Most commonly "mean time to resolution" (or "mean time to resolve") in support. In IT/ops it can also mean "mean time to repair" or "mean time to recovery" — define which you mean when you report it.

Related terms

Resolution Rate

Resolution rate is the percentage of support tickets that get resolved out of all tickets received in a period. It's a fundamental throughput metric — are you actually closing what comes in? A resolution rate consistently below 100% means a growing backlog of unresolved issues.

First Contact Resolution (FCR)

First Contact Resolution (FCR) is the percentage of customer issues fully resolved in a single interaction — no follow-ups, no callbacks, no reopened tickets. It's one of the strongest support metrics because high FCR correlates with both lower costs and higher satisfaction: customers get their answer once and move on.

SLA (Service Level Agreement)

An SLA (Service Level Agreement) is a documented commitment about service quality — most often, in support, a promise to respond or resolve within a set time. SLAs set clear expectations for customers and clear targets for your team, and you track how reliably you meet them with an SLA attainment rate.

Browse the full customer support glossary →