It used to be that everyone had a standard phone in their home and locating a number or address simply required opening the phone book and finding their name. This has become more complex now that cell phones are widely used and many people do not even have home phones, and if they do their number may be unpublished.

Even with the development of caller ID on most landlines, some numbers may show up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to stop their details from coming up. Reverse phone lookup services have responded to these changing times to offer a very timely service to resourceful phone users.

There are two common functions for these directories.

Searching for Names

If you are getting calls from someone and only a number comes up on your ID, or you want to figure out cellular phone callers, reverse phone lookup services can assist in finding the name registered to the phone number in question. Just by typing in the phone number you will be able to identify the person who is initiating the phone calls in question.

People needing lookup directories include those who need to check up on a number frequently phoning their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no phone book for cell phone numbers. Other people may use lookup directories when they want to know a name connected to a home phone that is unpublished. Whenever you have a phone number but don't know who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup service can assist you.

Finding Addresses

another common use is to locate an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you find the contact information linked with a specific number most directories will deliver additional data as well, such as the address of an landline or an address connected to 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 bedroom or cell phone a lookup directory could quickly uncover addresses as well as names of places the teenager may be at that time.

Other situations may be looking for addresses to send out party invitations to your child's classmates. If you have the phone number you can get their address and easily deliver the invite without calling and tracking down other busy people.

Lookup websites can also give you a connection to other various types of data, such as income brackets or address histories, and one site even gives a map with an general pinpoint of where the home or business is located.

There will be a small charge for any relevant reverse phone lookup directory, but if your business or personal life demands certain data it is money well spent in the long run. The charge is necessary because this kind of information is not simple or free to research, pull together, and store, so dispensing it as needed to people like you must also come with a charge to cover these operational expenditures.

There likely will never be a public directory for cellular numbers, and even if they were compiled most likely a lot of the numbers would be unlisted as is the case with many landline numbers right now. The only way to obtain access to these numbers is to give a minor charge either to complete a one time number lookup or to join a lookup directory if you will be using the service long term.