• Client:

    Exeter University

  • Location:

    Exeter, UK

  • Date:

    Ongoing

Overview

Exeter University, a leading UK academic institution, required a high-availability communication system to ensure uninterrupted delivery of critical Building Management System (BMS) data, including life safety alarms. With over 70 remote buildings across campus, the university needed a solution that could reliably transmit data via the main IT network, but also failover seamlessly to 4G in case of network disruption—without data loss, duplication, or compromise in security.

Given the mission-critical nature of the alarms and the scale of the deployment, the solution had to be redundant, secure, scalable, and fully autonomous. Exeter turned to Varciti to engineer and deliver this sophisticated infrastructure.

Project Objectives

The system had to achieve the following:

  • Provide reliable, real-time communication of BMS and life safety alarms across the campus
  • Automatically fail over to a 4G cellular connection if the wired IT network was unavailable
  • Route all data securely to two geographically diverse monitoring centres
  • Prevent data duplication while ensuring that every alarm was processed—regardless of the path it arrived from
  • Enable future expansion across additional buildings or sites, and integration with cloud platforms

Our Solution

Varciti engineered a fully redundant, resilient communication solution based on Teltonika 4G routers, site-level battery backups, and secure VPN tunneling to redundant core processing hubs.

1. Teltonika-Based Redundancy at Scale

  • Deployed battery-backed Teltonika routers at each of the 70+ monitored locations
  • Configured devices to automatically prioritize the campus IT network and switch to 4G LTE when required, with full monitoring and alerting for network status
  • All hardware was ruggedized and protected to operate continuously under various power and network conditions
     

2. Dual-Destination VPN Routing

  • Created a multi-endpoint VPN architecture, securely routing data from each site to two separate, geographically diverse locations
  • Designed systems to handle seamless failover, so alarms continued to be transmitted and processed even during IT or cellular outages
  • Enabled intelligent filtering and de-duplication, ensuring that each alarm event was logged once and only once, no matter the transmission path
     

3. Cloud and Local Distribution

  • Configured the primary processing nodes to forward alarm data to additional systems, including cloud-based monitoring dashboards
  • Real-time visibility was provided to facilities and life safety teams, enabling rapid response and historic audit trails
     

4. Scalability and Ongoing Expansion

  • Built the entire platform to be modular and scalable, allowing the university to add more locations or replicate the design across satellite campuses or departments
  • Regular updates and maintenance cycles keep security and firmware current with evolving threat landscapes

“Varciti’s team delivered a robust, enterprise-grade platform that has transformed how we manage critical safety systems across our campus. The level of resilience, transparency, and support has exceeded our expectations.”

Estates & Facilities Manager

Exeter University

Results

End-to-end data security using VPN encryption and device authentication

Built-in redundancy, with dual network paths (LAN and 4G) and dual data centres

No loss or duplication of critical alarm data—even under partial network failures

Significant operational enhancements, including real-time visibility, automated alerts, and zero downtime

Seamless scalability, allowing new sites to be onboarded with minimal configuration

Nominated as a Top 10 Solution in 2025 by an industry-leading smart infrastructure awards program

Sorry, this item is currently out of stock.
We currently hold [remaining-stock] units of this item in stock. The remainder will be put on back order.
You cannot order more of this item than we currently hold in stock.
You must order at least [min-order-qty] of this product.
You must order at least [min-order-qty] of this product. We currently hold [remaining-stock] in stock. The remainder will be put on back order.