Reopen rate (recontact rate)
Reopen rate, also called recontact rate, is the percentage of "resolved" tickets where the customer comes back about the same issue within a set window, usually 72 hours. It is the closest thing support has to a lie detector for false resolution.
Why it is the honesty metric
Any bot can mark a ticket resolved. The question is whether the customer agreed. A ticket that reopens within three days was not resolved, no matter what the dashboard said when it closed. That is why reopen rate is the north-star honesty metric: it cannot be gamed by closing conversations aggressively.
How to use it
Read reopen rate next to your automated resolution rate. A high AR with a low reopen rate is real success. A high AR with a rising reopen rate means the AI is closing tickets it should have escalated, which is exactly the over-closing that miscalibrated confidence causes. Resolve surfaces both together so false resolution cannot hide.
Frequently asked
What is a good reopen rate?
Lower is better, and the trend matters more than the absolute number. Watch it alongside automated resolution rate: if AR rises while reopen rate rises with it, the AI is over-closing tickets it should hand to a human.
Why 72 hours?
It is a common window that captures most genuine recontacts about the same issue without waiting so long that unrelated new tickets muddy the signal. The exact window is less important than measuring it consistently.