Technology · Latency

Real time has
a stopwatch.

A screen can use a live listener and still feel late. The guest experiences one path from a tap to the field device showing an actionable task, so the useful software latency budget includes every hop to that screen.

The definition

Measure from intent to actionable state.

The clock starts when the guest presses Request. It stops when the right field device shows a clear task that a valet can act on. Server processing time is only one interval inside that journey.

Valletto does not publish a universal latency number because one has not been measured across every property network, handset, and notification state. A buyer should ask every vendor, including us, to run the test in the real environment.

The budget

One promise, five intervals

01

Break the journey apart

01Guest tap reaches the service
02Service authenticates and records the request
03Change reaches the assigned field device
04App renders a visible, current task

A median for the server interval cannot describe a delayed notification or a sleeping device. Stop the platform clock at the actionable render, then measure valet acknowledgement separately so staffing and attention do not distort software latency.

02

Measure the tail, not only the happy path

Averages can hide the requests that arrived after the guest reached the curb.

Typical request
middle
Slowest common requests
tail
Timeout or never visible
failure

Illustrative shape only. Record your own median, P90, P95, and non-delivery rate rather than borrowing a benchmark.

03

Run the curb test

Use synchronized timestamps or a filmed clock so every interval can be reconstructed without relying on memory.

States

Foreground and locked

Repeat with the valet app open, backgrounded, and the phone locked. Delivery behavior can differ.

Networks

Good, weak, and changed

Test property Wi-Fi, cellular in the garage, and a transition between them.

Load

One request and a rush

A quiet test proves correctness. A burst reveals queues, fan-out limits, and screen ordering.

Outcome

Visible and actionable

Do not stop at a delivery log. Confirm the correct device displayed the correct task in the right context.

The procurement standard

Ask for the distribution, the test setup, and the failures.

A defensible answer names where the timer starts and stops, which device states were included, how many trials ran, and how non-deliveries were counted. 'Instant' and 'real time' are not measurements.

The takeaway: if a real-time claim cannot be expressed as a reproducible curb test, it is branding rather than a latency budget.

Keep reading.

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When reading is not enough

See it on your drive.

Twenty minutes on your own property, with your own volumes. We would rather show you the parts an article can only describe.

or keep reading the journal