Connect to Intercom— Operations —
Asynchronous Support
— Definition —
Asynchronous Support (async support) describes support channels where the customer and agent don't communicate in real time — the customer sends a message, the agent responds when available, and the conversation continues with natural delays between exchanges. Email, ticketing systems, and messaging platforms like WhatsApp are async. Async support allows agents to handle more conversations in parallel, batch similar issues, and provide more thorough responses — but customers must accept a delay in place of immediate answers.
— Common mistakes —
- 1Setting async SLAs based on live-chat expectations — async customers tolerate longer waits if they are set clearly and met consistently. Promising "same-day reply" is achievable; promising "within 30 minutes" for email creates failure.
- 2Not providing automated acknowledgement for async tickets — customers don't expect an immediate answer, but they do expect confirmation that their ticket was received and is being worked on.
- 3Conflating async with "lower quality" — async interactions allow agents more time to research and craft accurate responses. With the right metrics (IQS, FCR), async support can achieve higher accuracy than live chat.
- 4Not tracking time-in-queue separately from resolution time for async — a ticket that sat in queue for 18 hours and was resolved in 2 minutes of active work has a different problem profile than one that took 20 minutes of active work.
— Related metrics —