It used to be that everyone had a landline phone in their home and finding a number or address simply required opening the yellow pages and finding their name. It is often 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now that cell phones are widely used and many people do not even have landlines, and if they do their number may be unpublished.
Even with the invention of caller ID on most home phones, a lot of numbers may show up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to prevent their name from coming up. Reverse phone lookup providers have responded to these changing demands to offer a very timely service to resourceful phone users.
There are two typical uses for these directories.
Searching for Names
If you are receiving calls from someone and only a number comes up on your 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 entering the number you will have access to whoever is behind the calls of concern.
People looking for lookup directories include those wanting to check up on a number frequently calling their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no public directory for cell phone numbers. Others may use this when they need to find a name listed to a landline that may be unlisted. Anytime you have a phone number but are uncertain who it belongs to, a reverse phone lookup website can help.
Finding Addresses
The other typical function is to find an address for someone, whether you know the name of the person or not. Once you plug into the contact information associated with a particular number most directories will give additional information as well, which may include the address of an landline or the address listed to a cell phone number.
This may not be a common need for some people, but it does have its uses in some situations. For instance, consider a parent in a rush to locate a teenager who has run off or has not returned home long after curfew. If they can get access to numbers from the teenager's belongings or cell phone a lookup directory could quickly uncover addresses and names of locations the teenager may be at that time.
Other circumstances may be searching for addresses to send out party invitations to your child's friends. 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 deliver a connection to other sorts of information, including 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 data it is more than worth the payoff in the end. The fee is required because this variety of information is not simple or free to research, pull together, and protect, so issuing it immediately to others like you must also come with a charge to make up for such serviceable expenditures.
There more than likely will never be a phone book for cellular numbers, and even if they were compiled most likely many of the numbers would be unpublished just like many landline numbers right now. The best way to get access to these numbers is to pay a small fee either to do a single phone number lookup or to join a lookup directory if you will need to access the service long term.