7 signs your apartment building's technology is past end-of-life.

Patches and partial upgrades cost more in the long run than honest replacement. Here's how to tell which camp you're in.

1. Replacement parts for your access platform are hard to find.

If your locks are on an older platform (many installed before about 2018 fall into this group) and you're calling around for compatible reader replacements, you're likely past end-of-life. Manufacturers stop supporting old platforms; eventually you'll have a failure with no fix.

2. You're still using key fobs and rekeying on move-outs.

Mobile credentials and instant revocation have been widely available for years. If your move-out process still involves collecting fobs and rekeying locks, you're spending a lot of property-manager time that modern access control would give back.

3. Your intercom is wired only and doesn't reach resident phones.

If residents have to physically be in the unit to accept a delivery or visitor, your intercom is functionally non-existent for most of the day. Modern multifamily routes intercom calls to the resident's smartphone wherever they are. See ButterflyMX vs Comelit for the two main approaches.

4. Your cameras can't be searched by event.

If finding footage of an incident takes more than 5 minutes, your camera system is past end-of-life. Modern surveillance (UniFi Protect, Verkada) lets you search by motion event, time, or door event in seconds. Anything slower means you can't use the footage when you need it. Our UniFi Protect vs Verkada comparison covers the trade-offs.

5. Your network can't support PoE+ for new devices.

Many modern access readers, cameras, and access points need PoE+ (up to 30W per port) or more. If your switches only provide standard PoE (15W), you may not be able to add modern hardware without upgrading the network first. Many older buildings discover this only when they try to upgrade.

6. Your PMS doesn't talk to your access system.

If your property manager manually adds new residents to the access platform on move-in day, your tools are misaligned. Modern access platforms sync directly with Yardi, RealPage, and AppFolio. No manual work.

7. Integration failures are routine.

Power outages take you down, system updates require an on-site tech, residents complain about the tech weekly, your IT vendor blames the access vendor, and your access vendor blames the camera vendor. The systems weren't designed together, so they don't work together. This is one of the most common reasons owners start looking for a single integrator.