Not long ago, everyone had a landline phone in their home and locating a phone number or address was a matter of opening the yellow pages and locating the name. It is often more difficult now that cell phones are in common use and many people do not even have landlines, and if they do their number may be unpublished.

Even with the widespread use 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 stop their details from appearing. Reverse phone lookup directories have responded to these changing times to provide a very timely service to modern phone users.

There are two common functions for these directories.

Locating Names

If you are getting calls from someone and only a number shows on your ID, or you want to figure out cell phone callers, reverse phone lookup services can help you find out the name registered to the phone number in question. Just by typing in the phone number you will be able to identify whoever is behind the bothersome phone calls.

People in search of this service include those wanting to identify a number often calling their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no phone book for cell phone numbers. Other people may use lookup directories when they need to know a name listed to a landline that is unpublished. Whenever you have a phone number but are uncertain who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup directory can deliver the information.

Searching for Addresses

another common function is to identify an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you plug into the contact information linked with a certain number most services will give additional data as well, which includes the address of the 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 quite a few situations. For instance, consider a parent in a rush to track down 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 lookup directory could quickly tell them addresses as well as names of places the teenager may be at that time.

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

These services can also give you access to other sorts of information, such as income brackets or previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an general pinpoint to the business or home's location.

There is a minor fee for any up to date reverse phone lookup website, but if your business or personal situation requires accurate data it is more than worth the payoff in the long run. The charge is required because this kind of information is not simple or free to research, pull together, and protect, so distributing it immediately to others like you must also collect a fee to account for these operational costs.

There likely will never be a public directory for cell phone numbers, and even if they were compiled most likely many of the numbers would be unlisted just like many landline numbers right now. The best way to get access to these numbers is to put up a minor fee either to do a single number lookup or to join a lookup directory if you will be using the service on a regular basis.