Audio off (crossed-out bell)
The standard’s wording, as the sources below reproduce it:
“To identify the control whereby a bell may be switched off or to indicate the operating status of the bell.”
IEC 60417-5576 · used as an alarm-status symbol on patient monitors (IEC 60601-1-8)
What it means for you
The alarm sound is off. The device can still show an alarm by its lights and on-screen messages, but it will not be heard. Mindray’s monitor manual uses the crossed bell when “the alarm sound is turned off”, for example when the alarm volume is set to 0. That is what separates it from the crossed-out triangle (alarm off), where the alarms themselves are off.
Whether a device is right for you is a question for your pharmacist, nurse or doctor.
- What it looks like
- A bell with its clapper below, crossed out by a large X in solid lines.
- Where you see it
- In the alarm area of patient-monitor and central-station screens, and on the sound or alarm-silence key of pumps, monitors and nurse-call equipment.
- Other names
- bell cancel; alarm sound off; alarm silenced; crossed bell
What it does not tell you
It does not say whether the alarms themselves are active, or for how long the sound stays off; check the screen and the device’s instructions.
Often confused with
To identify the control for AUDIO PAUSED or to indicate that the ALARM SYSTEM is in the AUDIO PAUSED state.
More symbols in “An alarm triangle or a bell”
Sources
IEC 60417 and IEC 60601-1 are paid standards, so the wording above is quoted as 3 publishers’ public documents reproduce it; our drawing is not the IEC artwork. Each was fetched and read on the date shown:
- Hillrom: Symbols Glossary (80022945 Ver. J) — Row “Bell cancel — To identify the control whereby a bell may be switched off or to indicate the operating status of the bell.”, IEC 60417-5576, drawn as a bell crossed by a solid X. Checked 2026-09-28.
- ICU Medical: Symbols Glossary (IFU0000017 Rev 02) — Row “Bell Cancel — To identify the control whereby a bell may be switched off or to indicate the operating status of the bell.”, reference no. 5576, FDA recognition # 5-103. Checked 2026-09-28.
- Mindray: iPM 12/iPM 10/iPM 8/iPM 7/iPM 6/iPM 5 Patient Monitor Operator’s Manual — Section 7.3.5 “Alarm Status Symbols”: the crossed bell “indicates the alarm sound is turned off”; section 7.4.2 says the symbol appears when the alarm volume is set to 0. Checked 2026-09-28.
Plain-language parts are in our own words; quotations are the sources’ wording.