Cost Analysis Reports

Cost reporting is a way to estimate the amount of money that tickets and chats are costing you on a group, department, or user level. They can also be used to track costs by custom field or by end user to identify problem areas. Costs are estimated using a "per hour" amount assigned to each agent. Various activities are given an estimated "minute cost" that is used to estimate the total amount.

To access Cost Reports, log in to the SmarterTrack management interface as a System Administrator. From the top menu, click More, then select Reports from the dropdown. Cost Reports will display, with all available report categories listed in the left-hand navigation panel.

The following cost reports are available:

Overview - Shows an estimated cost of tickets and live chats by department, group, agent, or customer during a set time period. This report is useful because it allows managers to identify the most expensive areas of a company at a glance.
Ticket Cost Breakdown - Shows a breakdown of ticket costs by department, group, agent, or customer during a set time period. This report is useful because it helps identify problem areas or predict budgets.
Live Chat Cost Breakdown - Shows a breakdown of live chat by department, group, agent, or customer during a set time period. This report is useful because it helps identify problem areas or predict budgets.
Call Cost Breakdown - Shows a breakdown of call logs by department, group, agent, or customer during a set time period. This report is useful because it helps identify problem areas or predict budgets.

Depending on the report selected, the following report items are available:

Agent - The specific agent.
Call Time Cost - The total number of minutes charged for calls as per the estimates the administrator set in the group's settings.
Department - The specific department.
Estimated Call Costs - The total estimated costs for call logs as per the agents' hourly rates.
Estimated Chat Costs - The total estimated costs for vs as per the live chat estimates the administrator set in the group's settings and the agents' hourly rates.
Estimated Ticket Costs - The total estimated costs for tickets as per the ticket estimates the administrator set in the group's settings and the agents' hourly rates.
Group - The specific group.
Incoming Chat Transfers - The total number of live chats transferred to a specific department from another department.

Note: This report may show 0 when using the Group By: Group setting, even though the Trend report shows chat transfers. This is because you can only transfer chats between Agents, NOT Groups. Changing the Group By to Employees will display the proper number of chat transfers.

Incoming Ticket Transfers - The total number of tickets transferred to a specific department from another department.
Live Chat Time Cost - The total number of minutes charged for live chats as per the estimates the administrator set in the group's settings.
Messages Received - The total number of live chat or ticket messages received from customers.
Messages Sent - The total number of live chat or ticket messages sent by agents.
Ticket Time Cost - The total number of minutes charged for tickets as per the estimates the administrator set in the group's settings.
Tickets Assigned From Queue - The total number of tickets that were assigned to an agent after spending time in the queue.
Total Calls - The total number of call logs that occurred during the time frame.
Total Chats - The total number of live chat sessions that occurred during the time frame.
Total Estimated Cost - The total cost of all support types: tickets, calls, and chats.
Total New Tickets - The total number of tickets created during the time frame.
Total Time - The total number of minutes that agents were on calls during the time frame.

Cost Analysis Trend Reports

To access Cost Analysis Trend Reports, log in to the SmarterTrack management interface as a System Administrator. From the top menu, click More, then select Reports from the dropdown. Cost Analysis Trend Reports will display, with all available report categories listed in the left-hand navigation panel.

Note: Certain items may appear differently, based how items are grouped using the Group By dropdown. For example, The Live Chat Cost Breakdown summary report may show 0 Incoming Live Chat Transfers while the trend report shows a number greater than 0. This is generally due to having the Group By set to Group view versus the Agent view. Live chat transfers only happen between Agents, not Groups.

The following cost reports are available.

Note: For information on the options available for each report listed, see the Reports Overview.

Overview Trend - Shows an estimated cost of tickets, live chats, and call logs by department, group, agent, or customer over time. This report is useful because it allows managers to see how estimated costs are changing over time.
Ticket Cost Trend - Shows a breakdown of ticket costs by department, group, agent, or customer over time. This report is useful for identifying problem areas of predicting budgets.
Live Chat Cost Trend - Shows a breakdown of live chat by department, group, agent, or customer over time. This report is useful for identifying problem areas of predicting budgets.
Call Cost Trend - Shows a breakdown of calls by department, group, agent, or customer over time. This report is useful for identifying problem areas of predicting budgets.

Depending on the report selected, the following report items are available:

Day - The day of the week within the report's timeframe.
Estimated Ticket Costs - The total estimated costs for tickets as per the ticket estimates the administrator set in the group's settings and the agents' hourly rates.
Estimated Live Chat Costs - The total estimated costs for live chats as per the live chat estimates the administrator set in the group's settings and the agents' hourly rates.
Estimated Call Costs - The total estimated costs for call logs as per the agents' hourly rates.
Estimated Total Costs - The total estimated costs of tickets, calls, and live chats per the estimates the administrator set in the group's settings and the agents' hourly rates.
Total New Tickets - The total number of tickets created during the time frame.
Messages Sent - The total number of outgoing messages for that date.
Messages Received - The total number of incoming messages for that date.
Incoming Ticket Transfers - The total number of tickets transferred to a specific department from another department.
Ticket Time Cost - The total number of minutes charged for tickets as per the ticket estimates the administrator set in the group's settings.
Estimated Ticket Costs - The total estimated costs based on Ticket Time Cost and the hourly rate assigned to agents.
Total Live Chats - The total number of live chat sessions that occurred during the time frame.
Live Chat Messages Sent - The total number of outgoing live chat messages.
Live Chat Messages Received - The total number of incoming live chat messages.
Incoming Live Chat Transfers - The total number of live chats transferred to a specific department from another department.
Live Chat Time Cost - The total number of minutes charged for live chat as per the formulas set in group configuration.
Estimated Live Chat Costs - The total estimated costs based on Live Chat Time Cost and the hourly rate assigned to agents.
Incoming Chat Transfers - The total number of live chats transferred to a specific department from another department.
Total Calls - The total number of call logs that occurred during the time frame.
Call Time Cost - The total number of minutes charged for calls as per the formulas set in group configuration.
Estimated Call Costs - The total estimated costs based on Call Time Cost and the hourly rate assigned to agents.

How Costs are Calculated

Cost calculations rely on two configurable inputs:

Agent Hourly Rate — Each agent has an "Hourly Cost for Reporting" value on their profile (default: $10 .00/hour). This does not need to match actual compensation; it is used solely for report calculations.
Group Time Estimates — Each group has per-event time estimates that represent how many minutes an agent is expected to spend on a given type of activity. These are configured in each group's settings.

The default time estimates for a new group are:

Ticket Created - 0 minutes
Ticket Transferred - 3 minutes
Incoming Ticket Message - 3 minutes
Outgoing Ticket Message - 5 minutes
Chat Started - 0 minutes
Chat Transfer - 2 minutes

You can adjust these values per group to better reflect your team's actual workflows.

Cost Formulas by Channel

Tickets

Each ticket event (creation, transfer, incoming message, outgoing message) generates an estimated cost using the formula:

Event Minute Estimate × (Agent Hourly Rate ÷ 60)

For example, if an agent with a $12.00/hour rate sends an outgoing message and the group's estimate for outgoing messages is 5 minutes, the cost for that event is: 5 × ($12.00 ÷ 60) = $1.00. All events on a ticket within the reporting period are summed together.

Phone Calls

Call costs use the actual call duration rather than a time estimate:

Call Duration (in minutes) × (Agent Hourly Rate ÷ 60)

Live Chats

Chat costs combine two components:

Duration cost — Based on the actual time each agent spent in the chat session, multiplied by their hourly rate.
Event cost — Chat events such as transfers also apply the group's time estimates, calculated the same way as ticket events.

Both components are added together for the total chat cost.

Tips for Consistent and Usable Cost Data

To get meaningful results from cost reports, you should configure both inputs:

Set agent hourly rates — Navigate to the agent's profile under Settings and update the "Hourly Cost for Reporting" field on the Details tab. Leaving this at the default $10.00 or at $0.00 will produce inaccurate projections.
Adjust group time estimates — Open each group's settings and review the time estimate values. The defaults are a reasonable starting point, but adjusting them to reflect your team's actual handling times will improve report accuracy.
Review estimates periodically. As your team's processes change, update the group time estimates to keep reports relevant.
Use breakdown reports to identify cost drivers. If one group or department has significantly higher costs, the breakdown reports can help you pinpoint whether it is due to volume, handling time, or agent rates.
Compare channels with the Cost Summary. The summary report combines ticket, chat, and call costs so you can see which support channel carries the most cost.
Use trend reports for budgeting. Monthly or weekly cost trends can help forecast future support expenses and measure the impact of process changes over time.
Remember that calls reflect actual duration. Unlike tickets and chats, call costs are based on real call length, so they may be more or less than estimated event costs depending on your call patterns.

Important Notes

Cost reports reflect estimates, not tracked time. They are designed for directional budgeting and comparison, not precise accounting.
Deleted tickets are excluded from cost calculations.
Events where a ticket was only routed to a queue (without agent involvement) are not counted.
Cost reports are system-level reports and are only available to administrators.