Not long ago, everyone had a standard phone in their home and finding a number or address simply required opening the phone book and searching for their name. This has become more complex 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 invention of caller ID on most landlines, some numbers may come 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 resourceful phone users.

There are two typical uses for lookup directories.

Searching for Names

If you are receiving calls from someone and only a number comes up on your ID, or you want to identify cell phone callers, reverse phone lookup services can assist in finding the name listed to the number in question. Just by typing in the number you will have access to whoever is behind the bothersome phone calls.

People in search of this service include those wanting to identify a number frequently calling their spouse or children's cell phone, since there is no accessible directory for cell phone numbers. Other people may use lookup directories when they need to know a name registered to a landline that may be unpublished. Anytime you have a number but don't know who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup service can assist you.

Finding Addresses

The other common function is to locate an address for someone, whether you know the name of the person or not. Once you find the information associated with a specific phone number most directories will give other sorts of information as well, which may include the address of the home phone or an address connected to a cell phone number.

This may not be an everyday need for some people, but it does have its benefits in some situations. For instance, consider a parent needing to locate 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 belongings or cell phone a lookup directory could quickly tell them addresses and names of locations the child may be located.

More common circumstances may be looking for addresses to send out party invitations to your child's classmates. If you have the phone number you can get their address and easily deliver the invite without calling or tracking down other busy family.

These services can also deliver a connection to other sorts of data, like income brackets and previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an estimated pinpoint of the most current location.

There is a small charge for any legitimate reverse phone lookup website, but if your business or personal life requires accurate data it is money well spent in the end. The charge is unavoidable because this sort of information is not simple or completely free to research, pull together, and protect, so dispensing it as needed to people like you must also include a charge to account for these operational expenditures.

There probably will never be a public directory for cellular numbers, and even if there were most likely many of the numbers would be unpublished just like many home phone numbers today. The best way to get access to these numbers is to put up a minor charge either to do a single number search or to join a lookup directory if you will need to access the directory long term.