Show time spent on a ticket

Summary: The Znuny & OTRS “Show Time Spent on a Ticket” extension displays the cumulative working time for the current ticket directly in the interface (top right corner), so agents and supervisors instantly see effort at a glance—no extra clicks, no reports. It improves transparency for SLAs and billing while speeding up decisions on prioritization and hand-offs.

Why This Extension Matters

In busy support teams, time is the currency. Agents switch contexts, collaborate, and add notes—yet the total time spent often hides in reports. The Show Time Spent on a Ticket extension surfaces that total right where you work, reducing guesswork and preventing overruns.

• Instant visibility
  see total time spent without opening reports
• Better decisions
  prioritize work based on effort and SLA/contract needs
• Cost awareness
  keep billable effort aligned with budgets
• Onboarding clarity
  new agents understand effort expectations faster
• Auditability
  clear evidence of effort for stakeholders

This extension places a compact time indicator in the ticket header area of Znuny/OTRS. It reads the ticket’s accumulated working time and shows it in a human-friendly format so teams can act quickly and confidently.

What Does the “Show Time Spent on a Ticket” Extension Offer?

The extension provides a lightweight, configurable widget that shows the total working time for the current ticket, with optional thresholds for color cues. Administrators can control visibility and formatting to match their team’s processes.

• clear total working time display (e.g., 03:27 h)
• optional color thresholds for “warning” and “critical” effort
• compact UI placement in the ticket header area (top right)
• role/group-based visibility to avoid clutter for non-relevant roles
• works alongside your existing time accounting process—no data reentry

Key Features:

• Zero-click time overview
  the total working time is always visible while viewing a ticket
• Readable format
  displays hours and minutes in a concise label
• Visual cues (optional)
  color highlight when configured time thresholds are reached
• Permission-aware
  limit visibility to selected roles/groups
• Lightweight & upgrade-friendly
  adds UI only; avoids risky core changes

Why Use a Time-Spent Indicator?

For teams with SLAs, fixed-price contracts, or billable support, knowing effort in real time prevents over-servicing, improves planning, and supports transparent communication with customers.

By adding this visibility to the ticket view, you ensure:

• Accurate prioritization
  act before time budgets are exceeded
• Fewer surprises
  see effort build-up early instead of post-hoc in reports
• Faster coaching
  help new agents estimate and manage effort better
• Happier stakeholders
  clear evidence of work when reviewing outcomes

Screenshot

Conclusion

The Show Time Spent on a Ticket extension gives teams the visibility they need to keep SLAs, budgets, and customer expectations aligned—without leaving the ticket screen. It’s a simple UI enhancement with outsized impact on decision-making and quality.

Get started today and give your agents the clarity they need to deliver efficient, predictable support.

FAQ

Does this change how time is recorded?

No. It reads the existing working time associated to the ticket and visualizes the total; your current time-accounting process stays intact.

Can we restrict who sees the time indicator?

Yes. Visibility can be limited to selected roles or groups so only relevant users see it.

Can we set warning/critical thresholds?

Yes. Optional thresholds can highlight the indicator (e.g., warning at 2h, critical at 4h) to prevent overruns.

Is this compatible with Znuny and OTRS?

Yes. It’s designed for the Web – Znuny / OTRS environment and integrates into the ticket header area without modifying core files.

Does it impact performance?

The widget is lightweight and reads existing data; it does not run heavy queries or background jobs, keeping the UI responsive.