A device and method is disclosed that provides an alerting bell that can be quickly and easily disabled when desired. The bell includes a knocker portion inside a cylindrical body that is spring loaded so that it can be pulled below the bottom rim of the cylindrical body of the bell. The knocker portion and the bottom rim of the bell are modified so that the bottom portion of the knocker portion can be securely affixed to the rim of the cylindrical main body as needed to turn off the alerting function of the bell as desired.