The front panel offers various buttons (Standby, tv guide, i, select, etc) as well as the four standard indicators (standby, remote command, message, and online).
Also on the front panel is the receiver for signals from the remote controller. In the picture, it is the odd rectangular thing; so if you ever wondered where the IR sensor was on a Pace BSkyB 2500B... it is just below the red/green standby indicator.