Not long ago, everyone had a landline phone in their home and locating a number or address simply required opening the white pages and locating the name. It is often more difficult now that cell phones are in common use and many people do not even have home phones, and if they do their number may be unpublished.

Even with the widespread use of caller ID on most landlines, many numbers may come up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to block their details from appearing. Reverse phone lookup directories have stepped up to these changing demands to offer a very timely service to resourceful phone users.

There are two common uses for these directories.

Searching for Names

If you are getting calls from someone and only a number shows on your ID, or you want to identify cellular phone callers, reverse phone lookup directories can assist in finding the name registered to the number in question. Just by typing in the phone number you will have access to whoever is initiating those calls of concern.

People in search of such services include those who need to identify a number constantly calling their spouse or children's cell phone, since there is no phone book for cell phone numbers. Other people may use this when they want to find a name listed to a landline that may be unpublished. Anytime you have a number but are uncertain who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup service can deliver the information.

Locating Addresses

The other common purpose is to locate an address for someone, whether you know the name of the person or not. Once you plug into the contact information linked with a specific number most directories will deliver other sorts of data as well, which may include the address of an home phone or the address listed to a cell phone number.

This may not be an everyday need for most people, but it does have its uses in some situations. Such as a parent in a rush to track down a teenager who has run off or is still out long after curfew. If they can come up with numbers from the teenager's bedroom or cell phone a reverse phone lookup could quickly uncover addresses and names of places the teenager may be at that time.

Other circumstances may be looking for addresses to mail out party invitations to your child's friends. If you have their phone number you can get their address and get the invite in the mail without calling and tracking down other busy parents.

Lookup websites can also give you access to other sorts of information, like income brackets or address histories, and one site even gives a map with an estimated pinpoint to the business or home's location.

There will be a minor fee for any legitimate reverse phone lookup service, but if your business or personal life requires certain information it is more than worth the payoff in the long run. The charge is necessary because this sort of information is not simple or free to research, pull together, and store, so issuing it as needed to people such as you must also collect a fee to cover such operational expenditures.

There more than likely will never be a public directory for cellular numbers, and even if there were most likely the majority of the numbers would be unpublished just like many home phone numbers today. The only way to gain access to such phone numbers is to pay a minor fee either to complete a single phone number lookup or to join a lookup service if you will need to access the service long term.