Tech Forum

I was recently at a church building and there are these push buttons in the larger rooms by the entrances, Chapel, multi purpose, CC, etc, etc. Picture attached. What do they do?

My nephew was with me, and wanted to push it, but I was like nah, let's find out what it does first.

The only time I've seen a button like that is for the bells to announce the end of class. But I don't think they'd be in the locations mentioned. Usually its in the clerk's office or placed unusually high so children can't reach it.

Since it's unlabeled, it's probably only for use by people "in the know". Which would suggest it's not to get help for an emergency (like a medical problem).

My best guess is it's to signal the teacher that the time is up. That way a member of the bishopric or Sunday school presidency that poke their heads in and push the button. I'd assume it would light a light the teacher can see. Less disruptive then the bells. But that's just a wild guess.

More than likely it rings the hallway school bells (if your building is equipped with them, most new buildings now are built without them to save on costs) in the old days, 2 rings would indicate 5 min left and 1 ring would indicate time's up. If it was something you were not supposed to touch, then there would be a "do not touch unless in case of emergency" thing, so go ahead! Push it once, then run and hide!

RyanGard1977 wrote:More than likely it rings the hallway school bells (if your building is equipped with them, most new buildings now are built without them to save on costs) in the old days, 2 rings would indicate 5 min left and 1 ring would indicate time's up. If it was something you were not supposed to touch, then there would be a "do not touch unless in case of emergency" thing, so go ahead! Push it once, then run and hide!

Minor correction on why bells are no longer included. When they were introduced, it was uncommon for ward to overlap. Now however, it is far more common for the wards to overlap. When wards overlap, it is not uncommon for one ward to be in Sunday School, while another is in sacrament meeting. The result is that if the bells are used, its somewhat disruptive to those in sacrament meeting. Based primarily on these concerns, It was determined the best option was to discontinue the installation of bell systems.


As to the purpose of that button, I have no Idea, if its not a bell button, I have no idea what it is, nor what it is for, more context may help.

It is definitely to ring the bells for class change. When no activities are going on in the building, press the button to see what happens. Two buildings in our stake have them (built in 1970s and 1990s). They also have a doorbell switch by one entrance that rings the same bell, presumably for a visitor to alert a service person in the building. One building has a switch in the Member Custodial Closet to turn off the doorbell function.

If it doesn't ring a bell (literally and figuratively), the bell may have been disconnected or has malfunctioned. Do you every hear class change bells ring in your building?