Why do I have a red exclamation point on my Lyric?

The red exclamation point below the touchscreen on the Honeywell Lyric Controller provides access to the keypad panic alarms. There is no way to disable the red LED. It remains lit, even if the touchscreen back light times out. This is so that you can find the panic key, even in the dark.

When you press and hold this button for 2 seconds it will pull up a new screen with the option to choose from Police, Fire, and Local Alarm icons. By default it will only pull up these options, but you can enable a medical panic by going to zone 996 in installer programming. This zone is disabled by default, but when enabled, its normally set to a zone type of "24 hour Auxiliary". With Zone 996 enabled you will see Police, Medical, Fire, and Local Alarm symbols on the screen. A quick press on any of these icons will trigger a panic alarm to the monitoring station. They can then either call to check on the situation, or dispatch authorities immediately.

When activating monitoring service with your alarm company you can request to dispatch immediately or call to verify on these alarms. Generally we recommend to dispatch instantly. Initiating a keypad panic is a two-step process, which is designed to prevent false alarms. If you are concerned about false alarm fines or have young children that may press the panics accidentally, you can always choose to call and verify the panic situation prior to dispatch.

The police panic is a silent alarm by default. This means that when the police button is pressed there is no sound or much of any indication that it worked. It can be tricky when testing. Be sure to put your system in test mode with your central station before doing any panic tests. If you prefer to have an audible alarm trigger you can adjust zone 999 from "24 hour Silent" to "24 hour Audible." This will change the Police panic to a full-on siren alarm and potentially scare off any intruders. The silent panic is designed to get a police response without informing any potential intruders.

The fire panic is always an audible alarm designed to get anyone out of the protected space. Locally this is a fire alarm that should inform everyone to exit the vicinity for their own life safety. The standard temporal fire alarm sound should always be met with a rapid exit of all people in the building. After everyone has exited, the fire fighters can use the Lyric to confirm which smoke detector went off or discuss the specific location of the fire with the individual that tripped the fire panic.

Although the Lyric Controller is a technologically advanced alarm panel some of its most basic functions can be the most vital. Having the bright, red exclamation point on the front of the panel makes it easy to find at night or in other low light situations. To avoid false alarm fines (and upset local authorities) you want to be sure of the situation before tripping a panic alarm. Also be sure to train everyone on how to use the panics so that each person is capable of reporting something that requires the authorities.