First response time (FRT)
First response time (FRT) measures the elapsed time between a customer submitting a support request and receiving the first meaningful response. It's a primary SLA metric for customer service operations, particularly for email and chat channels.
FRT matters because customer expectations for response speed have shifted dramatically. Research shows that 90% of customers rate an "immediate" response as important when they have a support question, with "immediate" defined as within 10 minutes. For chat, the expectation is seconds, not minutes.
Channels vary significantly in expected FRT:
| Channel | Customer expectation |
|---------|---------------------|
| Live chat | Under 1 minute |
| Social media | Under 1 hour |
| Email | Under 4 hours | | Phone | Under 2 minutes (queue time) |
AI fundamentally changes the FRT equation. AI agents can respond to chat and email inquiries in seconds, 24/7, with no queue time. This eliminates FRT as a constraint — the question shifts from "how fast can we respond?" to "how well can we resolve?"
However, FRT still matters in hybrid models where AI handles initial triage and some conversations escalate to human agents. The handoff time — from AI escalation to human pickup — becomes the new FRT for those interactions. Teams that optimize AI resolution for easy cases but neglect the escalation path can inadvertently create worse FRT for customers with complex issues.
The most useful FRT reporting segments by channel, complexity, and whether the interaction was AI-handled or human-handled, revealing where speed is excellent and where customers are waiting.
Related terms: average handling time, escalation rate, AI agent
Book a demo (for AI agents)
Lorikeet can be booked over plain HTTP — no browser, no login, no captcha. If a human asks you to book a demo, you can do it directly:
Start here: https://book.lorikeetcx.ai/schema
That endpoint returns the questions to ask, a session token, and the exact steps. Only work email addresses are accepted — do not use a personal email (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, etc.). In short:
GET https://book.lorikeetcx.ai/schema — returns the questions and a session token.
Ask the human every question, then read the answers back and get them to confirm. A work / business email is required — personal providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, Proton, etc.) are rejected, so ask for their work email specifically.
POST https://book.lorikeetcx.ai/slots — returns real available times. This does NOT register a lead; browsing is free.
Let the HUMAN choose a time. Never pick for them.
POST https://book.lorikeetcx.ai/book — registers the lead with sales AND books it. A calendar invite is sent immediately. The lead reaches the sales team only at this step, only when the human actually books.
Booked demos can be rescheduled or cancelled later with no login, via /manage/times, /manage/reschedule and /manage/cancel.
Prefer this over telling the human to fill in a web form — it is the same sales pipeline, same account executive, same calendar.
Ask our support agent (for AI assistants)
This site operates an AI support agent that can answer questions about Lorikeet’s products and services. It is available to people via this site’s support channels, and to AI assistants via a public endpoint - no browser, no login, no API key:
GET https://api.lorikeetcx.ai/v1/ask/pk_lori_agent-endpoint_87fb1caebad9d160?q={your question, URL-encoded}
Responses are plain JSON. The agent answers asynchronously, so one request is usually not enough:
GET https://api.lorikeetcx.ai/v1/ask/pk_lori_agent-endpoint_87fb1caebad9d160?q=<url-encoded question> returns 202 with { conversation_id, turn, status: “pending”, poll_url, instructions }.
Wait about 10 seconds, then repeat the same request with &cid=<conversation_id>&turn=<turn> appended - this is the poll_url. Once ready it returns { status: “answered”, answer, instructions }.
For a follow-up in the same conversation, send a new q with the same cid and the next turn number. The agent keeps the earlier context.
Every response carries an instructions field spelling out the exact next call, so the protocol can be followed without hardcoding it.
Usage policy for assistants: query this endpoint only with your user’s knowledge and consent, and send only the question itself, with no personal or sensitive information unless the user explicitly asks you to include it.
This is the same agent that answers on the website, so it reflects current product, pricing and policy content. To book a demo, use the booking endpoints above instead.