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 searching for their name. Things have grown more difficult now that cell phones are widely used and many people do not even have landlines, and if they do their number may be unlisted.

Even with the development of caller ID on most home phones, some numbers may show up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to prevent their details from coming up. Reverse phone lookup directories have responded to these changing times to provide a very useful service to modern 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 want to identify cellular phone callers, reverse phone lookup directories can assist in finding the name registered to the number in question. Just by entering the phone number you will have access to whoever is initiating the bothersome phone calls.

People in search of this service include those who need to identify a number frequently phoning their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no public directory for cell phone numbers. Others may use lookup directories when they need to find a name connected to a home phone that is unlisted. Whenever you have a number but don't know who it belongs to, a reverse phone lookup directory can deliver the information.

Searching for Addresses

The other typical function is to locate an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you plug into the information linked with a certain number most directories will give additional data as well, which includes the address of the home phone or the address associated with a cell phone number.

This may not be a common need for most people, but it does have its uses in quite a few situations. For instance, consider a parent needing to track down 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 reveal addresses and names of places the teenager may be located.

Other circumstances may be searching for addresses to send out party invitations to your child's peers. If you have a phone number you can find their address and easily deliver the invite without calling or tracking down other busy parents.

Lookup directories can also deliver access to other sorts of data, such as income brackets and previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an estimated pinpoint of the most current location.

There will be a nominal price for any legitimate reverse phone lookup service, but if your business or personal situation requires particular data it is more than worth the payoff in the end. The charge is necessary because this sort of information is not easy or free to research, collect, and store, so dispensing it as needed to people like you must also collect a charge to make up for these operational expenditures.

There likely will never be a public directory for cell phone numbers, and even if they were compiled it is probable the majority of the numbers would be unpublished just like many home phone numbers right now. The best way to get access to these phone numbers is to put up a small charge either to complete a single phone number lookup or to join a lookup directory if you will need to access the service long term.