It used to be that everyone had a standard phone in their home and searching for a phone number or address was a matter of opening the phone book and searching for their name. Things have grown more difficult now that cell phones are widely used and many people do not even have home phones, and if they do their number may be unlisted.
Even with the development of caller ID on most home phones, a lot of numbers may show up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to stop their name from appearing. Reverse phone lookup directories have responded to these changing times to offer a very useful service to resourceful phone users.
There are two common uses for lookup services.
Searching for Names
If you are receiving calls from someone and only a number is revealed on your caller ID, or you need to identify cellular phone callers, reverse phone lookup directories can assist in finding the name listed to the number in question. Just by typing in the phone number you will have access to the person who is responsible for the calls of concern.
People needing this service include those who need to identify a number often calling their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no public directory for cell phone numbers. Others may use this when they need to identify a name listed to a landline that is unpublished. If you have a number but aren't sure who it belongs to, a reverse phone lookup directory can assist you.
Locating Addresses
another common function is to identify an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you find the information connected with a specific number most directories will deliver additional data as well, which may include the address of the landline or the address associated with a cell phone number.
This may not be a common need for some people, but it does have its benefits in some situations. For instance, consider a parent desperate to find a teenager who has run off or has not returned home long after curfew. If they can find phone numbers from the teenager's belongings or cell phone a reverse phone lookup could quickly uncover addresses as well as names of places the teenager may be located.
Other circumstances may be searching for addresses to mail out party invitations to your child's classmates. If you have their phone number you can find their address and mail out the invitation without calling or tracking down other busy people.
These services can also give you access to other kinds of information, including income brackets or previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an rough pinpoint of where the home or business is located.
There is a nominal price for any up to date reverse phone lookup directory, but if your business or personal life demands certain data it is money well spent in the end. The charge is required because this sort of information is not simple or completely free to research, compile, and save, so distributing it on demand to others such as you must also collect a fee to account for these operational costs.
There likely will never be a phone book for cell phone numbers, and even if they were compiled most likely many of the numbers would be unlisted as is the case with many home phone numbers right now. The best way to gain access to these phone numbers is to put up a nominal fee either to do a one time phone number lookup or to join a lookup directory if you will be using the service long term.