Cost per Ticket measures the average cost to handle a single support ticket, regardless of whether it resolves the customer's issue. It's the most common cost metric in support operations and the easiest to calculate.

The basic formula divides total support costs by ticket volume. Total costs include agent compensation (fully loaded with benefits and overhead), technology costs, facilities, and management. More granular calculations allocate costs by channel: phone tickets cost more than chat, which costs more than email.

Cost per ticket is useful for budgeting and capacity planning but misleading for efficiency analysis. A team could reduce cost per ticket by closing tickets faster—even if customers have to open new tickets because their issues weren't resolved. Cost per ticket measures transaction efficiency, not customer efficiency.

For AI support, cost per ticket comparisons show dramatic differences: AI-handled tickets might cost $0.20-0.50 versus $5-15 for human-handled tickets. But this only matters if the AI tickets are actually resolved. Comparing cost per ticket without comparing resolution quality is comparing apples to rotten apples.

Related terms: Cost per Resolution, Resolution Rate, Automation Rate, Effective Automation Rate