‎Testing the Bell Box | SimpliSafe Support Home

Testing the Bell Box

Updated 

Test Mode is a great way to test the connection between your Base Station and other SimpliSafe® products. We recommend periodically placing your system into Test Mode to ensure that your devices are still communicating with the Base Station without any errors. 

Placing Your System Into Test Mode

  1. Disarm your system by pressing OFF on the Keypad

  2. Press the Menu button on your Keypad

  3. Enter your Primary PIN

  4. Scroll until Test Mode is highlighted

  5. Use the right arrow key to enter Test Mode

You’ll know you are in Test Mode when you see a circle on the Keypad appear with the text, “Test each device by pressing its button”.

Note: If you subscribe to monitoring, you will receive a robo call from the monitoring centre asking you to confirm you placed your system into Test Mode. If you do not answer – no worries! It will not result in a request for dispatch.

Testing the Bell Box

To test the Bell Box, remove the Bell Box of its bracket and press the button within the battery compartment. You’ll hear the Base Station announce, “Bell Box” to confirm the test was successful. 

NOTE: The Bell Box will also emit a quiet beep during this test. Please be sure to protect your ears incase of a real alarm, as the Bell Box is equipped with a 105dB siren.

Troubleshooting the Bell Box

If you are testing your Bell Box and do not hear the Base Station announce, “Bell Box”, the first thing you’ll want to do is confirm you can hear the Base Station from the location you’re testing in. You can adjust the Base Station’s volume under the Base Station Settings menu, by selecting Voice Prompts.

As a next step, you’ll want to confirm that the Bell Box battery is functioning. The Bell Box takes 4 x CR123A lithium batteries and has a life expectancy of up to 1 year depending on placement and usage.

If you are still unable to hear the Base Station announce, “Bell Box” it’s possible that there could be an issue with the location of the Base Station, or there is Radio Frequency (RF) interference at play.

Other electronic devices within your home may communicate on similar frequencies, resulting in wireless interference between your SimpliSafe® devices. Because of this, we recommend keeping your Base Station and Bell Box at least 3-5 feet away from the following devices:

  • Wi-Fi Routers

  • Large TVs

  • Weather Stations

  • Large Appliances (especially in the kitchen and laundry rooms)

  • Baby monitors

  • Remote Controlled Garage Door Openers

  • LED Lights or Christmas Lights

This above list is to give you an idea of what devices may cause interference within your home, and is in no means an exhaustive list of all devices. There may be other devices that output RF or Wi-Fi signals that could impede the connection between your Base Station and SimpliSafe® devices