Short answer
Reopen rate is the percentage of solved support tickets that are opened again, usually because the customer replies that the problem is not fixed. It is calculated as reopened tickets divided by solved tickets in the same period, times 100.- Also called
- Ticket reopen rate, reopened ticket rate
- Usual window
- A few days to a week after a ticket is solved
- Signals
- Tickets closed before the problem was actually solved
- Read it with
- Resolution time and first contact resolution
Reopen rate is one of the few support metrics that is hard to flatter. A team can bring resolution time down by closing tickets early, but the customer's next reply reopens them and this number goes up. That makes it the natural check on resolution time, and on any automation that closes conversations.
How to calculate reopen rate
Divide reopened tickets by solved tickets for the same period, then multiply by 100.
In March a team solved 2,000 tickets and 90 of them were reopened: 90 divided by 2,000, times 100, is a 4.5% reopen rate.
Three choices keep the number honest:
- Set a window. A reply 40 days after solving is usually a new issue, not a reopen.
- Count a ticket once, even if it reopens twice, and track repeat reopens separately.
- Decide whether a reply that only says thanks counts. Most teams exclude it.
What counts as a reopened ticket
A ticket is reopened when it moves from solved back to open. In most helpdesks that happens automatically when the customer replies to a solved ticket.
- A real reopen: "The replacement still hasn't arrived."
- Not a real reopen: "Thanks, all sorted."
- A grey area: a new question about a different order, written on the old thread.
The same idea applies in IT service management, where a reopened service request (SR) or incident means it was closed and the problem came back.
Common causes of reopened tickets
Most reopens trace back to a handful of causes.
- The reply answered a different question from the one asked.
- Only the first of two questions in the message was answered.
- The ticket was solved before the fix was confirmed, such as a replacement sent but not yet delivered.
- A promised follow-up did not happen.
- The policy answer was correct, but the customer's case was an exception.
- An automated reply or rule closed the conversation while the customer still needed help.
In Aide, a procedure finishes by replying and leaving the conversation open by default. Closing is a choice the team makes per procedure, and it happens only once Aide has replied.
How to reduce reopen rate
Fix the cause, not the count.
- Confirm the fix before solving. Wait for tracking to show delivered, or ask the customer.
- Answer every question in the message, not just the first.
- Use a pending or snoozed status while you wait on a carrier or the customer, instead of solving early.
- Read reopened tickets each week by request type. A cluster usually points at a policy, a help article or a process.
- Track reopens on automated and human conversations separately.
With Aide, live tracking from Shopify, UPS and FedEx sits beside the conversation with the timeline and expected delivery, so a teammate can see whether a replacement has actually arrived before marking the conversation solved.
The practice this page rejects is lowering resolution time by closing early. A reopened ticket was never resolved. It was only marked that way.
Where Aide fits
Aide's analytics separate the conversations Aide resolved on its own from the ones a person finished, and every number opens the exact conversations it counts, so the team can read the ones that came back. In Aide Helpdesk, a conversation waiting on a carrier or a customer can be snoozed instead of closed.