Difference between Channel Entry Point SLAs and Inbox SLAs

There are two ways to set SLA in Gladly:

1. On an Inbox level (Inbox SLA) via Inbox settings.
2. On an Entry Point level (Entry Point SLA) via Entry Points.

When you set an Inbox SLA — which is required — that SLA applies (by default) to all the Conversations that go into that Inbox, regardless of the Channel your Customer used. But there might be situations where you choose to set the SLA on the Entry Point instead of the Inbox. Suppose you have two email Entry Points that route emails to an Inbox with an Inbox SLA of 10 hours. But of those two Entry Points, one might be reserved for your VIP Customers (e.g., vip@retale.com), for whom you have a shorter turnaround time of two hours. In this case, you want to set a separate SLA for your VIP Entry Point of two hours, rather than have the default 10-hour Inbox SLA apply, which you can configure via the Entry Points settings page by creating an Exception.

What’s important to note is that when there’s a difference between the Entry Point SLA and the Inbox SLA, the Entry Point SLA will apply. Let’s take the example of an Inbox with three different Entry Points with an Inbox SLA of 10 hours.

When Entry Point SLA could be overridden

Above, we mention that Entry Point SLA normally trumps Inbox SLA as long as there's an Entry Point SLA configured, regardless of the value in the Inbox SLA. While generally true, there's an exception specific to email Conversations. If a Customer replies to a previous email in an Inbox with a short SLA, we assume that the original issue hasn't been resolved, and we use the Inbox SLA if it's shorter to ensure the email is treated with priority.