Not long ago, everyone had a standard phone in their home and locating a number or address simply required opening the phone book and locating the name. Things have grown more complex now that cell phones are in common use and many people do not even have landlines, and if they do their number may be unpublished.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, many numbers may come up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to block their name from appearing. Reverse phone lookup services have responded to these changing demands to offer a very valuable service to modern phone users.

There are two typical uses for these directories.

Locating Names

If you are getting calls from someone and only a number comes up on your caller ID, or you need to figure out cell phone callers, reverse phone lookup services can help you find out the name registered to the number in question. Just by entering the phone number you will be able to identify the person who is behind the calls of concern.

People in search of lookup directories include those who need to identify a number constantly phoning 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 find a name registered to a landline that may be unlisted. Whenever you have a number but don't know who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup service can deliver the information.

Finding Addresses

another typical function is to find an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you gain access to the contact information connected with a specific number most directories will give additional data as well, which may include the address of an landline or the address connected to a cell phone number.

This may not be an everyday need for most people, but it does have its uses in quite a few situations. Such as a parent desperate to track down a teenager who has run away or has not returned home long after curfew. If they can get access to numbers from the teenager's bedroom or cell phone a reverse phone lookup could quickly reveal addresses as well as names of places the teenager may be located.

More common situations may be looking for addresses to send out party invitations to your child's peers. If you have a phone number you can get their address and mail out the invitation without calling and tracking down other busy family.

Lookup websites can also give you access to other various types of information, including income brackets or previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an estimated pinpoint of where the home or business is located.

There is a minor fee for any relevant reverse phone lookup service, but if your business or personal situation demands accurate information it is worth the money in the long run. The fee is necessary because this sort of information is not easy or free to research, pull together, and protect, so issuing it as needed to people such as you must also come with a charge to cover such serviceable costs.

There probably will never be a phone book for cell phone numbers, and even if there were most likely a lot of the numbers would be unlisted just like many landline numbers today. The best way to gain access to these numbers is to give a nominal fee either to complete a single number lookup or to join a lookup service if you will need to access the directory on a regular basis.