How Do I Disable Exit Delay Sounds On the Qolsys IQ Panel 2 Plus?

You can disable Exit Delay sounds on the Qolsys IQ Panel 2 Plus by toggling the Exit Sounds option to OFF before arming the system. By doing this, the panel will not emit and Exit Delay tones during the countdown period, and it will not verbally announce the selected arming type.

Exit Delay sounds are considered to be a false alarm prevention tool. They let the user and any other building occupants know that the system is being Armed Away, and everyone should vacate the premises immediately to avoid causing a false alarm. If you accidentally arm your system without realizing it, then the exit sounds can come in handy in letting you know to either exit the building, or disarm the system to prevent causing a false alarm.

However, some users find Exit Delay sounds to be annoying or distracting. They may want to turn them OFF for an arming session. Luckily, Qolsys allows that option. But you must manually toggle the Exit Delay sounds to OFF each and every time you arm the system. The IQ Panel 2 keeps exit sounds enabled by default, as they represent a crucial tool in false alarm prevention. But as long as you can remember to toggle them OFF each time, you'll be fine.

The other, more extreme, option is to unplug the speaker for the panel. This will eliminate all system sounds, at all times. Once you do that, you won't hear any Exit Delay sounds, and you won't need to remember to toggle the option to OFF every time you want to arm your system without making any sounds. But you should also consider that this will eliminate alarm sirens from your panel as well. A workaround for that is to add an external siren, like an IQ Siren.

It is important to note that neither manually toggling Exit Sounds nor disconnecting the speaker will affect the system's Exit Delay countdown in any manner. The delay period will not be extended beyond its usual duration. In other words, you or any other building occupants will not have any additional time to vacate the premises after Arming Away. However, you will still have the usual option to manually extend the Exit Delay by 60 seconds if needed.

For this FAQ, we will focus on the standard option of keeping the system speaker enabled and manually toggling Exit sounds to OFF whenever you arm the system. Complete the following steps to arm your Qolsys IQ Panel 2 without having any exit sounds:

1. Click the Disarmed button. From the main screen of the IQ Panel 2 or IQ Panel 2 Plus, click the green System Disarmed button. If you have partitions enabled, then this button will actually read Partition Disarmed.

2. Click the right arrow. On the right side of the sub-menu arming screen, there will be a small grey arrow. Click on it. This will open up an expanded arming menu where you can choose various options, including the option to turn exit sounds OFF.

3. Toggle Exit Sounds OFF. The option for Exit Sounds is found at the bottom of the expanded arming menu, just to the left of the Entry Delay toggle option. Click on the Exit Sounds button so that the speaker image becomes greyed out and reads OFF.

4. Arm the system. Choose either Arm Stay or Arm Away, depending on the arming mode you want to use. The system will not produce any Exit Delay countdown tones, and it will not verbally announce the arming type.