Response metrics explained

Response rate and response time are the two numbers teams argue about most, so here is precisely how Entergram computes them. (The app shows the same explanation behind the How Response Metrics Work hint.)

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What is a “trigger message”?

A trigger is any incoming message that requires your response.

Private chats (DMs)

Every incoming message is a trigger — you should respond to all of them.

Groups & supergroups

Only specific messages count:

• messages where you were @mentioned, and
• replies to your messages.

General group chatter is not a trigger. This is why a busy community group doesn’t wreck your response rate.

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Response Rate

Response Rate = (Responses ÷ Triggers) × 100%

Example: you received 10 trigger messages and responded to 7 → 70%.

Important: a response only counts if it happens within 1 hour of the trigger message.

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Average Response Time

Response Time = T₂ − T₁

where T₁ = trigger received and T₂ = your response sent.

Averaging rules:

• Only counted responses are included in the average response time.
• Unanswered triggers lower the response rate but do not affect the average time.

That asymmetry is deliberate. If unanswered triggers were folded into the average as “infinite”, one forgotten message would destroy the number and it would stop being useful.

Worked example

	Counted	Not counted
Trigger received	10:00	10:00
You respond	10:15	11:05
Response time	15 minutes	1h 5min
Result	✓ Counted (within the 1h window)	✗ Not counted (exceeded the 1h window)

The second reply still happened — it just doesn’t count towards response metrics.

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Key parameters

Parameter	Value
Response window	1 hour
Default time range	30 days
Output unit	Minutes

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Where these numbers appear

• Response Rate and Avg Response Time stat cards on the Analytics overview.
• Response Performance card, with matched within 1h and a comparison against the previous period.
• Resp. rate and Avg 1st reply columns in the message breakdown.
• The Response board in Performance, ranking members by rate then by speed.
• Fastest reply and Best coverage derived stats.

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Using them well

• Judge a member on both rate and time. High speed with low coverage means they’re cherry-picking easy replies.
• Segment by chat type before comparing people — someone who lives in group chats has a structurally different trigger profile than someone doing 1:1 outreach.
• The 1-hour window is fixed. If your business genuinely answers next-business-day, use ticket SLA instead — that’s what it’s for.