Patent ID: 8662255

Claim:
A method of handling passenger requests during an elevator system modernization that includes modernizing elevator cars over time such that the modernized elevator cars are capable of servicing destination requests placed outside of an elevator car that include an indication of a desired destination, the method comprising the steps of: assigning an elevator car to respond to a new pending destination request according to a selected criterion for selecting between a modernized elevator car and an elevator car that has not yet been modernized wherein the selected criterion comprises a percentage of pending requests assigned to modernized elevator cars; automatically updating the selected criterion responsive to a change in a number of modernized elevator cars; reserving a percentage of the elevator cars that are not yet modernized; and assigning the new pending request to a modernized elevator car if a percentage of the elevator cars that are modernized elevator cars plus the reserved percentage equals a percentage that is greater than a current percentage of pending requests assigned to modernized elevator cars.