Not long ago, everyone had a standard phone in their home and searching for a number or address was a matter of opening the phone book and searching for their name. This has become 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 development of caller ID on most landlines, some numbers may appear without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to block their name from appearing. Reverse phone lookup directories have stepped up to these changing demands to offer a very valuable service to resourceful phone users.

There are two typical functions for these directories.

Searching for Names

If you are getting calls from someone and only a number comes up on your ID, or you need to identify cellular phone callers, reverse phone lookup directories can help you find out the name registered to the number in question. Just by entering the phone number you will be able to identify the person who is initiating the phone calls in question.

People in search of lookup directories include those who need to check up on a number constantly phoning their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no accessible directory for cell phone numbers. Other people may use this when they need to find a name connected to a landline that is unpublished. Whenever you have a phone number but aren't sure who it belongs to, a reverse phone lookup directory can deliver the information.

Locating Addresses

another common function is to locate an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you plug into the contact information associated with a certain number most services will deliver other sorts of information as well, which may include the address of an landline or the address connected to a cell phone number.

This may not be a common need for most people, but it does have its benefits in some situations. For example, take a parent needing to find a teenager who has run off or has not returned home long after curfew. If they can come up with numbers from the teenager's bedroom or cell phone a reverse phone lookup could quickly uncover addresses and names of locations the teenager may be located.

More common circumstances may be looking for addresses to send out party invitations to your child's friends. If you have the phone number you can access their address and mail out the invitation without calling and tracking down other busy people.

Lookup directories can also deliver a connection to other kinds of information, like income brackets and previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an estimated pinpoint to the business or home's location.

There is a minor fee for any relevant reverse phone lookup directory, but if your business or personal situation demands certain data it is money well spent in the long run. The fee is unavoidable because this sort of information is not simple or completely free to research, pull together, and protect, so issuing it on demand to people such as you must also include a fee to make up for such working costs.

There likely will never be a public directory for cellular numbers, and even if there were most likely the majority of the numbers would be unlisted as is the case with many landline numbers right now. The best way to obtain access to such numbers is to give a minor fee either to do a one time phone number search or to join a lookup service if you will be using the service on a regular basis.