Support Ticket Deflection Calculator
Estimate savings from an AI support assistant.
With the default inputs, $19,200.00/month saved — 4,000 tickets deflected. Enter your own numbers below to recompute instantly; the full step-by-step math is shown under the worked example.
Results update automatically as you type.
- Tickets deflected
- 4,000
- Gross savings
- $20,000.00
- AI cost
- $800.00
- Net savings
- $19,200.00
Estimate the savings from deflecting support tickets with an AI assistant. Set your ticket volume, deflection rate and cost per ticket to see net monthly savings.
How this is calculated
Deflected tickets = tickets per month × deflection rate. Gross savings = deflected tickets × cost per human ticket. Net monthly savings = gross savings − AI cost per month. 'Deflection' means the AI fully resolves the ticket so no agent touches it; partial assists that still need a human aren't deflections.
Cost per human ticket should be fully loaded (agent time, tooling, overhead), which is why it's usually higher than a raw wage estimate.
Is this a good result? What to do next
The lever that matters most is deflection rate, and it's easy to overstate. A well-tuned assistant deflecting 20–50% of routine tickets is a strong result; claims above that usually include assisted resolutions that still cost agent time. Net savings should comfortably exceed the AI cost, or the effort isn't worth it.
Typical planning ranges
- Realistic deflection rate
- ~20–50% of routine tickets
- Fully-loaded cost per human ticket
- ~$3–$15+ depending on complexity
- Start-conservative rate for planning
- ~15–25%
Ranges are typical planning figures to sanity-check your result, not authoritative benchmarks. Your numbers will vary with use case, volume, and vendor.
How to improve this number
- Improve the knowledge base and retrieval so the bot answers more first-contact questions.
- Route only clearly-answerable intents to AI; escalate the rest.
- Measure true resolution (no follow-up ticket), not just first response.
Common mistakes
- Counting assisted tickets as deflected — only fully-resolved counts.
- Using an optimistic deflection rate before you've measured it.
- Ignoring the CSAT/quality cost of over-deflecting complex issues.
When to use a different approach
To size the underlying chatbot's model bill, use the chatbot cost calculator. For non-support tasks, use the AI automation savings calculator.
Worked example (defaults)
With the default inputs above, here is the result:
- Tickets deflected
- 4,000
- Gross savings
- $20,000.00
- AI cost
- $800.00
- Net savings
- $19,200.00
Sources & references
Frequently asked questions
What deflection rate is realistic?+
Well-tuned assistants deflect 20-50% of routine tickets. Start conservative, measure resolution quality, and grow the rate as confidence improves.