This is the technical guide for the logic behind our time-on-task scores.
What we track
Surfboard uses the metadata attached to tickets in your linked ticketing systems to identify which tickets surfers worked on and at what time.
We use the email addresses to match the surfers in your ticketing system to their Surfboard profile.
Surfboard creates a timestamp every time a 'comment' is made on a ticket or the 'status' (open, closed or on-hold) of a ticket changes. This includes the email address of the surfer who did that action.
How we work out how much time surfers spend
To work out how much time a surfer spent on a ticket, Surfboard uses the AHT (average handle time) for the ticket group linked to the activity that was scheduled at that time.
The type of action logged determines how this AHT is used. In these examples we'll assume AHT is 300s for simplicity:
Comments: We count backwards from the timestamp using AHT as we assume the surfer was writing before sending the comment. (e.g. comment made at 9:05. 9:05 minus 300s AHT = 9:00. We assume the surfer worked for 5 mins)
Open: We count forwards from the timestamp using AHT as we assume the surfer will read or work the ticket from that time. (e.g. ticket opened at 10:00. 10:00 plus 300s AHT = 10:05. We assume the surfer worked for 5 mins)
Closed: We count backwards from the timestamp using AHT as we assume the surfer was working the ticket before closing it. (e.g. ticket closed at 12:00. 12:00 minus 300s AHT = 11:55. We assume the surfer worked for 5 mins)
On hold: We count backwards from the timestamp using AHT as we assume the surfer was working the ticket before putting it on-hold. (e.g. ticket put on-hold at 13:30. 13:30 minus 300s AHT = 13:25. We assume the surfer worked for 5 mins)
Surfers get a 120s (2min) grace period after closing a ticket. This time will always be counted on-task. This is to reflect the natural time lost when closing a ticket and opening a new one to work.
AHT is stretched to 125% when a surfer has opened or worked on the same ticket in succession. We assume the surfer worked on this ticket for that duration so we do this to avoid awkward gaps.
Surfboard uses 'friendly time' when a surfer is changing scheduled activities. Friendly time is the time the activity was scheduled plus AHT. (e.g. Sam is switching from Phone to Email at 10:00. Sam does not work any tickets until 10:04. Friendly time has applied, adding AHT of 300s to 10:00, giving a grace period of 5mins to prevent his score from dropping while he switches to the new activity
How we create ticket sessions
Ticket sessions aim to show periods of work on tickets. They're made up of one or more events that happened on the same ticket within a reasonable time of each other.
The reasonable time is defined by the 125% stretched AHT. If events overlap then they're grouped into a ticket session.
If the first event in a session is an open, then this timestamp will be used as the assumed start time of the session.
If the last event in a session is closed, then this timestamp will be used as the assumed end time of the session.