Not long ago, everyone had a standard phone in their home and searching for a phone number or address was a matter of opening the phone book and locating their name. Things have grown more complex now that cell phones are widely used and many people do not even have home phones, and if they do their number may be unpublished.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 invention of caller ID on most home phones, many numbers may show up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to stop their name from showing up. Reverse phone lookup directories have stepped up to these changing times to provide a very timely 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 directories can assist in finding the name listed to the phone number of concern. Just by typing in the phone number you will be able to identify whoever is behind the phone calls in question.
People needing such services include those who need to check up on a number frequently phoning their spouse or children's cell phone, since there is no phone book for cell phone numbers. Others may use this when they need to find a name connected to a home phone that may be unpublished. Whenever you have a number but are uncertain who it belongs to, a reverse phone lookup service can assist you.
Finding Addresses
The other common purpose is to find an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you find the information linked with a particular number most services will deliver other sorts of data as well, which may include the address of the home phone or an address associated with a cell phone number.
This may not be an everyday need for most people, but it does have its uses in some situations. For example, take a parent desperate to find a teenager who has run off or is still out long after curfew. If they can find phone numbers from the teenager's belongings or cell phone a reverse phone lookup could quickly uncover addresses as well as names of places the child may be at that time.
Other situations may be searching for addresses to mail out party invitations to your child's friends. If you have their phone number you can access their address and get the invite in the mail without calling and tracking down other busy parents.
Lookup websites can also deliver access to other various types of information, such as income brackets and previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an general pinpoint to the business or home's location.
There is a nominal price for any legitimate reverse phone lookup directory, but if your business or personal life demands certain data it is money well spent in the end. The charge is necessary because this kind of information is not easy or completely free to research, collect, and protect, so issuing it as needed to others such as you must also include a charge to cover such serviceable costs.
There more than likely will never be a phone book for cellular numbers, and even if there were it is probable many of the numbers would be unpublished just like many home phone numbers right now. The only way to get access to these phone numbers is to pay a small fee either to complete a single phone number lookup or to join a lookup directory if you will need to access the service long term.