A system and method for deploying and reading data from sensors or electronic beacons to create a sensor rich, Internet of Things environment. A beacon reader embodying an aspect of the present invention includes a computing chip, a Bluetooth or other radio frequency (RF) module, and an internet connectivity module. The beacon reader is configured for use with Bluetooth beacons or other RF transmitting devices or sensors, Wi-Fi transmitting devices, a network-connected database, a real time analytics engine configured for performing real time analysis and allowing bidirectional communication and information exchange, a network-connected computing device having a display, and a user interface. The beacon reader is configured to assign identifying information to the Bluetooth beacons or other RF transmitting devices; scan for and collect data from the beacons or transmitting devices; trigger proximity and/or data driven events; and send data to the database viewable in the user interface.