Ticket burn rate and the art of help desk planning

Ticket burn rate is the percentage of tickets resolved as compared to the total incoming tickets for a given month. You can tweak this report to give you weekly stats as well.

There are a variety of situations where the burn rate report is helpful. One such scenario is when you have to make staffing decisions. A burn rate of above 80% shows that your technicians are able to resolve most of the requests within the same month. Anything below 80% is an indicator that your helpdesk may need more hands.

A burn rate report can answer a few other critical questions (given below) involved in help desk planning, and help you stay proactive.

- How many tickets does the help desk team close on an average?

- Can the team complete the work on time, based on the current burn rate?

- What is the likelihood of the team resolving the month's tickets within the same month?

Burn rate is an early indicator of slowdown in resolution/closure rates. Additionally, since it helps you look at trends on a month-on-month basis, it is a great metric for both strategic (long-term) and operational (short-term) planning.

Click here to read our earlier blog post on ticket burn rate and how to create a ticket burn rate report.

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