It used to be that 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 their name. This has become more complicated now that cell phones are widely used and many people do not even have landlines, and if they do their number may be unpublished.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 development of caller ID on most home phones, a lot of numbers may come up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to prevent their details from showing up. Reverse phone lookup providers have stepped up to these changing demands to offer a very timely service to modern phone users.

There are two common uses for lookup directories.

Locating Names

If you are receiving calls from someone and only a number comes up on your caller ID, or you want to figure out cell phone callers, reverse phone lookup directories can assist in finding the name registered to the phone number in question. Just by entering the number you will be able to identify whoever is behind those bothersome phone calls.

People in search of lookup directories include those wanting to identify a number frequently phoning their spouse or children's cell phone, since there is no accessible directory for cell phone numbers. Others may use this when they need to know a name registered to a landline that is unlisted. Whenever you have a phone number but are uncertain who it belongs to, a reverse phone lookup directory can help.

Finding Addresses

another common purpose is to identify an address for someone, whether you know the name of the person or not. Once you gain access to the contact information connected with a particular number most services will deliver additional data as well, such as the address of the landline or an address connected to a cell phone number.

This may not be an everyday need for most people, but it does have its uses in quite a few situations. Such as a parent desperate to find a teenager who has run away or is still out long after curfew. If they can come up with numbers from the teenager's belongings or cell phone a lookup directory could quickly reveal addresses and names of locations the child may be at that time.

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

Lookup websites can also deliver access to other various types of information, like income brackets or previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an estimated pinpoint of the most current location.

There is a minor fee for any relevant reverse phone lookup directory, but if your business or personal life requires particular information it is worth the money in the end. The fee is unavoidable because this kind of information is not easy or completely free to research, compile, and save, so dispensing it as needed to people like you must also include a charge to cover such working costs.

There probably will never be a public directory for cell phone numbers, and even if there were most likely a lot of the numbers would be unlisted just like many landline numbers right now. The best way to gain access to these numbers is to pay a nominal charge either to do a one time number search or to join a lookup service if you will be using the service long term.