Adjust or clear a case’s response SLA target

An SLA target is a service deadline the team uses to manage a customer commitment. A manual response-target adjustment can be appropriate for an approved exception, such as an agreed support window. It should preserve an honest account of the commitment, not hide a missed response. The Case View dialog in this procedure changes the response/primary SLA target; the separate SLA closure date is not edited through this control.

Check whether a manual exception is appropriate  ·  Change the response SLA date and time  ·  Understand Clear SLA before using it  ·  Understand later workflow changes  ·  Example: an approved customer response window  ·  Resolve SLA editing problems

Check whether a manual exception is appropriate

Confirm the actual customer agreement and your organization’s approval process. A customer being unavailable does not by itself establish that a contractual deadline should change. Record the rationale, approved target and responsible owner in the case history so another agent can understand the exception.

• The case must be open and writable, with an existing response SLA target available through this editor.
• Your role needs case-edit access and the capability labeled Alter SLA dates on cases, with your account’s configured case terminology where applicable.
• The role name alone does not establish permission. Do not assume every Agent role lacks it or every Supervisor role has it.
• Confirm the local date/time context and the intended customer commitment before entering a value.
• Review whether an SLA workflow may recalculate the target after later case updates. A manual exception is not a change to the underlying policy.

Change the response SLA date and time

1. Open the intended case and confirm its ID, customer, state and existing SLA response target.
2. Select the clickable SLA response pill to open Alter SLA Date. If it is not editable, check the prerequisites rather than choosing the separate closure date.
3. Choose the new date and time. The date control displays day-month-year, and the time choices use 15-minute increments with AM/PM. Confirm you selected the intended day and time in the local UI context.
4. Read the dialog’s warning that altered SLA dates may reset on case updates according to SLA workflows.
5. Choose Save and verify the displayed response target after the action completes.
6. Record the reason and approved commitment in the case/activity history, including who owns the next response. Recheck the target after subsequent workflow-triggering updates when the exception matters.

This operation changes the current response target and marks it manually managed. It does not edit the configured SLA policy, automatically change the closure target or send the customer a revised agreement. Communicate any changed commitment through the appropriate customer workflow.

Understand Clear SLA before using it

Clear SLA removes the current response target and still marks it manually managed. It is not a button to restore the normal workflow-derived SLA, and it is not a way to change the case’s closure deadline.

1. Confirm that removing the current response target is the approved operational outcome. If you only need a different date, use the date/time fields and Save instead.
2. Open SLA response → Alter SLA Date and select Clear SLA.
3. Verify the case no longer shows the previous response target and record why it was cleared.
4. Check how the case will remain visible in your commitment/workload process. A missing target is not evidence that no customer follow-up is required.
5. If the intention is to return to policy-driven calculation, work with the SLA/workflow owner on the supported policy behavior and verify the resulting target. Do not assume Clear SLA performs that restoration.

Understand later workflow changes

An SLA workflow can recalculate or replace a manually altered date when its event and conditions run. The outcome depends on the configured workflow; the date is not guaranteed to reset on every case update, and it is not guaranteed to remain forever. The old blanket rule that every update always resets the value is too broad.

The manual date action itself updates the current value without replaying the general case synchronization/workflow/webhook lifecycle. Later case operations can still trigger their normal workflows. If an approved exception repeatedly disappears, review the actual workflow and conditions with the administrator instead of repeatedly changing the date without understanding why.

Example: an approved customer response window

Do not use the example as a rule to extend every case when the customer is unavailable. The decision depends on your service agreement and approval process. A separate task or scheduled message may help organize the next action, but neither should obscure the actual SLA commitment.

Resolve SLA editing problems

Continue learning

• Manage escalations and service commitments
• Schedule a case email and verify its send time
• Use views to manage commitments and workload
• Configure agent roles and permissions
• Configure workflows and their conditions