The End of Single-Function Card Readers: What Consultants Should Specify Instead

Why Consultants Matter

In commercial real estate, hospitals, campuses, and multifamily properties, consultants are the gatekeepers of technology standards. Your specifications define what gets built, which systems survive over the long term, and how your clients experience their buildings. For decades, the standard elevator access specification has been simple: install card readers inside the car to control floor access.

But times have changed. Single-function card readers are no longer sufficient. They don’t support modern credentialing methods, they don’t address the visitor problem, and they don’t integrate with broader building systems.

As a consultant, specifying card readers today is specifying obsolescence. It’s time to recommend a modern, multi-modal, all-in-one solution: the in-car Person Reader.

The Limitations of Card Readers in Elevator Specs

Consultants who continue to specify traditional card readers are leaving clients with:

Credential Restriction
Legacy readers can only read prox or, at best, mobile credentials. They cannot handle QR codes for visitors, facial recognition, or natural-language voice commands.

Visitor Vulnerability
With card readers, visitors either need escorts, temporary badges, or insecure “open floor” configurations. None are efficient, and all introduce risk.

Fragmented Systems
To cover intercom, video, or analytics, clients must install separate subsystems — increasing costs, complexity, and points of failure.

Rigid Infrastructure
When standards evolve or new credentialing methods emerge, card readers must be ripped out and replaced.

No Data Insights
A card reader produces a log, but nothing more. No ride quality, no video, no integrated event context.

What Consultants Should Specify Instead

The BluB0X In-Car Person Reader is not just a credential reader. It is a five-in-one platform that consolidates:

• Multi-Credential Access: Cards, NFC, BLE, QR, PIN, face, and voice.
• Visitor Enablement: Secure QR workflows with floor restrictions.
• Emergency Intercom: Audio, video, and text — fully integrated.
• In-Car Surveillance: Local recording and live playback.
• Ride-Quality Analytics: Performance data tied directly into BluSKY®.

By specifying Person Readers, consultants deliver future-proof solutions that evolve with client needs.

Compliance and Standards

Consultants are also tasked with ensuring compliance with building codes and accessibility standards. Person Readers help meet and exceed these requirements:

• ADA Accessibility: Voice command and natural language support make elevators usable for riders who cannot easily press buttons.
• Security Standards: Multi-factor authentication and visitor floor restriction protect against unauthorized access.
• Safety Requirements: Integrated intercom and video add redundancy and visibility in emergencies.

Where card readers create accessibility concerns, Person Readers solve them.

Consultant Value Proposition

When you specify Person Readers, you’re not just recommending hardware — you’re reinforcing your role as a trusted advisor who:

• Delivers Innovation: Ensures clients adopt forward-looking, rather than backward-looking, technologies.
• Reduces Client Costs: Consolidating five devices into one reduces upfront and long-term expenses.
• Improves Tenant Experience: Seamless, touchless, visitor-friendly systems make your projects stand out.
• Protects Client Investment: Monthly BluSKY over-the-air updates mean systems improve over time rather than degrade.

Your specification is the blueprint for client success. Person Readers help future-proof that blueprint.

A Real-World Example

Consider two consultants writing elevator specs for similar Class A office towers:

• Consultant A specifies traditional in-car card readers. The owner spends more upfront (multiple devices), has to manage visitor escort issues, and faces tenant complaints about outdated experiences. Within five years, the readers are outdated.
• Consultant B specifies in-car Person Readers. The owner reduces capex by consolidating devices, improves tenant satisfaction with modern, touchless credentials, and collects valuable ride-quality data. Over time, the system continues to improve with OTA updates.

Which consultant will the client call back for the next project?

The End of Single-Function Readers

The days of card readers as a default spec are over. The market has moved to multi-modal, all-in-one platforms. As a consultant, you have the opportunity to lead this shift — to specify systems that deliver real value, long-term flexibility, and modern tenant experiences.

Specify Person Readers, not card readers. It’s the difference between building for yesterday and building for tomorrow.