It used to be that everyone had a standard phone in their home and finding a number or address simply required opening the phone book and locating their name. It is often more complicated now that cell phones are widely used and many people do not even have home phones, and if they do their number may be unpublished.

Even with the widespread use 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 demands to offer a very useful service to modern phone users.

There are two common uses for these directories.

Finding Names

If you are getting calls from someone and only a number shows on your caller ID, or you want to figure out cell phone callers, reverse phone lookup services 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 phone calls in question.

People looking for this service include those who need to check up on a number often calling their spouse or children's cell phone, since there is no accessible directory for cell phone numbers. Others may use lookup directories when they want to identify a name listed to a home phone that may be unpublished. If you have a phone number but are uncertain who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup website can help.

Searching for Addresses

The other common function is to find an address for someone, whether you know the name of the person or not. Once you gain access to the contact information linked with a certain phone number most directories will give other sorts of information as well, which may include the address of the landline or an address associated with 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 track down a teenager who has run away or is still out long after curfew. If they can find phone numbers from the teenager's bedroom or cell phone a lookup directory could quickly uncover addresses as well as names of places the child may be located.

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

These services can also deliver a connection to other kinds of information, including income brackets and address histories, and one site even gives a map with an rough 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 life requires accurate information it is money well spent in the long run. The fee is necessary because this variety of information is not simple or completely free to research, pull together, and save, so issuing it immediately to others such as you must also come with a charge to cover these operational costs.

There likely will never be a phone book for cellular numbers, and even if there were it is probable 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 phone numbers is to pay a small charge either to complete a single number lookup or to join a lookup directory if you will need to access the service long term.