Channel traffic in Internet Protocol (IP) networks may be placed in priority queues upon receipt. Providing an efficient way for operators to use the channel may enable the operator to better make decisions for configuring the priority queues, maximizing effectiveness. For example, measuring a queue latency and making a queue latency visible to an operator may enable a better configuration of priority queues. Further, an improved latency metric may assist an operator to judge a relative effect that priority assignments have on traffic over a channel. Such techniques may be applied to an out-of-band (OOB) channel to include an assessment of parameters important for optimizing the configuration of priority queues in a downstream channel. For example, an improved latency metric for assisting an operator to judge the relative effect that priority assignments have on traffic is a parameter assessed for better use of an OOB channel.