It used to be that everyone had a standard phone in their home and finding a number or address simply required opening the phone book and finding the name. This has become more difficult now that cell phones are in common use and many people do not even have home phones, and if they do their number may be unlisted.

Even with the development of caller ID on most home phones, many numbers may come up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to prevent their details from showing up. Reverse phone lookup services have responded to these changing times to provide a very useful service to modern phone users.

There are two typical uses for lookup directories.

Searching for Names

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

People looking for lookup directories include those who need to identify a number frequently texting their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no phone book for cell phone numbers. Others may use lookup directories when they need to know a name connected to a home phone that may be unlisted. If you have a phone number but are uncertain who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup directory can help.

Finding Addresses

another common purpose is to locate an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you gain access to the information connected with a certain phone number most directories will deliver additional data as well, which includes the address of an landline or an address connected to 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. Such as a parent desperate to find a teenager who has run away or is still out long after curfew. If they can get access to numbers from the teenager's belongings or cell phone a reverse phone lookup could quickly tell them addresses as well as names of locations the teenager may be located.

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

These services can also give you a connection to other various types of information, 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 nominal price for any up to date reverse phone lookup directory, but if your business or personal situation requires certain information 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, collect, and save, so distributing it on demand to consumers such as you must also collect a fee to cover such serviceable expenditures.

There likely will never be a public directory for cellular numbers, and even if they were compiled it is probable many of the numbers would be unlisted just like many landline numbers right now. The best way to obtain access to such numbers is to put up a nominal fee either to complete a one time number lookup or to join a lookup directory if you will need to access the service long term.