Not long ago, everyone had a standard phone in their home and locating a phone number or address was a matter of opening the phone book and locating their name. It is often more complicated now that cell phones are in common use and many people do not even have landlines, and if they do their number may be unpublished.
Even with the development of caller ID on most landlines, some numbers may appear without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to stop their name from appearing. Reverse phone lookup services have responded to these changing demands to provide a very timely service to resourceful phone users.
There are two common uses for these directories.
Finding Names
If you are receiving calls from someone and only a number shows on your ID, or you need to identify cell phone callers, reverse phone lookup services can assist in finding the name registered to the number in question. Just by typing in the number you will have access to the person who is behind the bothersome phone calls.
People looking for this service include those who need to check up on a number often phoning their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no public directory for cell phone numbers. Other people may use this when they need to know a name registered to a home phone that may be unlisted. Anytime you have a number but are uncertain who it belongs to, a reverse phone lookup directory can help.
Finding Addresses
another common use is to locate an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you gain access to the contact information connected with a certain phone number most directories will give additional information as well, such as the address of the home phone or the address listed 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 example, take a parent in a rush to locate a teenager who has run away or has not returned home long after curfew. If they can find phone numbers from the teenager's belongings or cell phone a lookup directory could quickly tell them addresses as well as names of places the teenager may be at that time.
More common situations may be looking for addresses to send out party invitations to your child's friends. If you have a phone number you can access their address and easily deliver the invite without calling and tracking down other busy people.
Lookup directories can also give you a connection to other various types of information, including income brackets and 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 up to date reverse phone lookup service, but if your business or personal life demands accurate data it is worth the money in the long run. The fee is required because this kind of information is not easy or free to research, collect, and protect, so issuing it on demand to people like you must also include a fee to cover these working expenditures.
There likely will never be a phone book for cellular numbers, and even if there were most likely many of the numbers would be unpublished just like many home phone numbers today. The only way to get access to these numbers is to put up a nominal fee either to complete a one time phone number lookup or to join a lookup directory if you will be using the directory long term.