Not long ago, everyone had a standard phone in their home and locating a phone number or address was a matter of opening the white pages and locating the name. This has become more complex 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 unlisted.

Even with the widespread use of caller ID on most home phones, some numbers may come up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to block their name from appearing. Reverse phone lookup providers have responded to these changing times to offer a very useful service to modern phone users.

There are two typical uses for these services.

Searching for Names

If you are receiving calls from someone and only a number comes up on your caller 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 of concern. Just by entering the number you will have access to the person who is behind the bothersome phone calls.

People looking for lookup directories include those who need to check up on a number often texting their spouse or children's cell phone, since there is no phone book for cell phone numbers. Others may use this when they want to know a name connected to a home phone that may be unpublished. Anytime you have a phone number but are uncertain who it belongs to, a reverse phone lookup directory can assist you.

Locating Addresses

another common purpose is to locate an address for someone, whether you know the name of the person or not. Once you find the contact information associated with a certain number most services will give other sorts of data as well, which includes the address of an landline or an address associated with a cell phone number.

This may not be a typical need for some people, but it does have its uses in some situations. For example, take a parent in a rush to locate a teenager who has run away or is still out well past curfew. If they can come up with numbers from the teenager's belongings or cell phone a lookup directory could quickly tell them addresses and 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 their phone number you can find their address and mail out the invitation without calling and tracking down other busy people.

These services can also deliver a connection to other various types of information, like income brackets and previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an general pinpoint to the business or home's location.

There will be a nominal price for any legitimate reverse phone lookup service, but if your business or personal situation demands accurate information it is money well spent in the end. The fee is required because this sort of information is not easy or free to research, pull together, and protect, so dispensing it on demand to consumers such as you must also include a fee to cover these operational costs.

There probably will never be a public directory for cell phone numbers, and even if they were compiled 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 single phone number search or to join a lookup service if you will need to access the service on a regular basis.