It used to be that everyone had a standard phone in their home and locating a phone number or address was a matter of opening the white pages and searching for their name. Things have grown 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 unlisted.

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

There are two common uses for these directories.

Locating Names

If you are getting calls from someone and only a number comes up on your ID, or you want to figure out cellular phone callers, reverse phone lookup services can help you find out the name listed to the number in question. Just by typing in the phone number you will be able to identify whoever is initiating those calls of concern.

People in search of this service include those wanting to identify a number constantly phoning their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no accessible directory for cell phone numbers. Others may use this when they want to know a name registered to a landline that may be unlisted. If you have a phone number but are uncertain who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup website can assist you.

Searching for Addresses

another typical use is to find an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you gain access to the information connected with a particular number most services will deliver additional data as well, which may include 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 benefits in some situations. For example, take a parent desperate to find a teenager who has run away or has not returned home well past curfew. If they can get access to numbers from the teenager's bedroom or cell phone a lookup directory could quickly reveal addresses as well as names of locations the child may be at that time.

Other circumstances may be searching for addresses to mail out party invitations to your child's classmates. If you have their phone number you can get their address and mail out the invitation without calling or tracking down other busy family.

These services can also give you access to other various types of data, such as 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 nominal price for any relevant reverse phone lookup directory, but if your business or personal situation requires certain data it is worth the money in the long run. The fee is unavoidable because this sort of information is not simple or completely free to research, collect, and save, so dispensing it immediately to people such as you must also collect a charge to make up for these 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 as is the case with many landline numbers right now. The best way to get access to such numbers is to pay a nominal charge either to complete a one time phone number lookup or to join a lookup service if you will be using the service on a regular basis.