An observer device (12) listens for advertising messages from broadcast devices (14) in an environment, transmits scan request messages to broadcast devices, and subsequently receives scan response messages. The observer device (12) can connect to a broadcast device (14) and configure the broadcast device (14) to a scanning mode. The broadcast device (14) selected for scanning listens for advertising messages from other broadcast devices (14). The broadcast device (14) relays information related to these other broadcast devices (14) back to the observer device (12).