A system and method for remotely monitoring conditions at a location and for controlling devices at the location. The inventive system includes: a data link in communication with an electronically readable instrument, the data link having a transceiver configured for wireless digital communication; and a data gate having a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with one or more data links, the data gate also having an interface for connection to a communication network such as a land-line telephone network, cellular/pcs network, satellite communication network, or the like. In a preferred embodiment, the data gate communicates with a server via the communication network where the information from the electronically readable instrument is processed and made available to other devices over a computer network.