Most IT field service contracts are compared on resolution time. It is the headline number in every proposal, and it is the wrong thing to optimise for on distributed estates.
Two different clocks
Resolution time measures ticket raised to service restored. First response measures ticket raised to a human confirming ownership and next steps.
Resolution is what you ultimately care about. But it is heavily determined by factors outside the provider’s control — parts availability, site access, whether the fault is what the ticket says it is. A single hard case skews the average, which is why the figure is so often quoted as an average rather than a distribution.
Why first response is the better predictor
First response is almost entirely within the provider’s control. It reflects whether someone is genuinely on shift, whether dispatch is staffed across timezones, and whether the escalation path works at 03:00.
A provider with a fast, consistent first response is demonstrating operational discipline. A provider quoting an excellent average resolution time while taking four hours to acknowledge a ticket is telling you their reporting is good, not their operations.
What to ask for
- Median, not mean. Averages hide outliers; medians describe the normal case.
- The distribution. “90% within the hour” says far more than any single figure.
- Where the clock starts. Ticket receipt, business hours only, or dispatch confirmation? These differ substantially.
- Out-of-hours separately. Blended 24/7 figures hide weak overnight cover.
Why it matters more when you are distributed
On a single site with staff on the floor, response is near-instant and resolution is everything. Across many sites with no local presence, the first hour is where most of the elapsed time is decided: acknowledgement, correct diagnosis, dispatching someone genuinely local rather than someone who must travel.
Travel is usually the largest single component of resolution on distributed estates — which means coverage density, not engineering speed, is what actually determines outcomes.
A fair test
Ask a prospective provider for their median first response, the proportion answered within an hour, and how those figures are measured. Providers who track it will answer immediately. Providers who do not will offer an average resolution time instead.
That answer, and how quickly it arrives, tells you most of what you need to know.
