Research question and scope
Published September 9, 2026.
This study asks how long cases wait for specialist action after a documented handoff and which workflow states account for the delay. It covers selected specialist queues and a defined intake cohort. It is not a universal service benchmark or a staffing recommendation.
Methodology
Follow every eligible handoff created in the study window through fixed follow-up. Capture request time, acceptance, first specialist action, clarification requests, dependency states, disposition, customer updates, reopen events, and repeat contacts. Define clock pauses before extraction and retain both paused and unpaused durations. Check a sample of event sequences against the case record.
Measures and analysis
Report median and tail wait, time to first action, active review time, dependency time, unresolved share, and checkpoint compliance. Stratify by request type, priority, queue, hour, and completeness of the handoff. Show censored cases and missing events. Use workload and arrival context when interpreting changes.
Limitations and inference limits
System timestamps may record status changes rather than actual cognitive work. Priority and complexity affect both wait and outcome, creating confounding. A faster first action may not improve resolution. Findings describe the chosen queues and period and should not be used as a causal estimate of specialist performance.