If your Qolsys alarm siren does not sound as expected, sounds unusually quiet, or you believe an external siren is not operating, first determine whether the issue involves normal panel sounds or the actual alarm siren.
These instructions apply generally to:
The alarm siren is different from everyday sounds such as:
Changing normal panel volume does not necessarily change the volume of an alarm siren.
Do not intentionally trigger a burglary, fire, carbon monoxide, police, or medical alarm simply to determine whether the siren works.
If the system is monitored, an alarm may be transmitted to the monitoring center.
Contact CommTech Systems to arrange an appropriate system test.
Before assuming the siren has failed, determine what you expected to hear.
For example:
These can have different causes.
If only door and window chimes are too quiet, check the normal customer-accessible volume settings.
This does not necessarily indicate a siren problem.
If voice announcements are difficult to hear but other panel sounds work, check the normal volume controls.
If the panel speaker sounds distorted or unusually weak, contact CommTech Systems.
If the problem only occurs during entry or exit delay, it may involve the normal panel sound level rather than the alarm siren.
Check the normal volume settings available to you.
If an actual alarm event occurred and you believe the siren did not operate:
Do not intentionally trigger another alarm to reproduce the problem.
If Alarm.com recorded an alarm event but no siren was heard at the property, contact CommTech Systems.
Provide the exact event shown in Alarm.com.
The system should be inspected before relying on another intentional alarm event as a test.
If the alarm siren was previously louder and is now noticeably quieter, contact CommTech Systems.
Possible causes can involve the panel speaker, connected equipment, or another hardware issue.
If the siren sounds:
contact CommTech Systems.
Do not open the panel or attempt to repair its speaker.
If the panel is completely silent, check whether:
If the panel produces no sound under normal operation, contact CommTech Systems.
If the panel has no sound and the screen is black, the problem may involve panel power rather than only the speaker.
Check whether:
Contact CommTech Systems if the panel appears completely powered off.
Some systems may have an additional siren installed away from the main panel.
If the panel siren works but an external siren does not, contact CommTech Systems.
Do not open or disconnect the external siren.
If an external siren operates but the Qolsys panel does not produce the expected alarm sound, contact CommTech Systems.
If the problem began after a power outage:
If the sound problem remains, contact CommTech Systems.
If normal panel sounds or the siren appear different after the system restarted, do not repeatedly reboot the panel.
Contact CommTech Systems if the problem remains.
During a burglary alarm, entering an authorized code may silence the local alarm.
However, if an alarm signal has already been transmitted, silencing the panel does not necessarily cancel the event at the monitoring center.
Follow any instructions from the monitoring center.
Fire alarm notification is a life-safety function.
If a smoke or fire alarm activates, evacuate the property and contact emergency services as appropriate.
Do not remain inside attempting to determine whether the siren volume is correct.
If a carbon monoxide alarm activates, move to fresh air or another safe location and contact emergency services.
Do not troubleshoot the siren while remaining in a potentially unsafe building.
Alarm sirens are intentionally loud so they can alert occupants.
Do not cover the panel speaker, disconnect a siren, or modify equipment to reduce alarm volume.
If you have a concern about the installation or sound level, contact CommTech Systems.
Do not place tape, cloth, furniture, or another object over the panel speaker or an external siren.
Doing so can reduce the effectiveness of alarm notification.
Do not disconnect the panel, speaker, or external siren because it is loud or malfunctioning.
Contact CommTech Systems.
Do not unplug the panel or disconnect its backup battery to stop an alarm sound.
Use the normal authorized method to disarm the system when appropriate.
If the actual alarm siren is not working, changing unrelated sound or system settings is unlikely to correct a hardware problem and may create additional issues.
Do not factory reset the Qolsys panel because the siren is not working or sounds different.
Contact CommTech Systems if:
When requesting assistance, provide:
For your security, do not provide alarm codes, passwords, monitoring verification information, or other private account credentials through the support chatbot.