It used to be that everyone had a landline phone in their home and searching for a number or address was a matter of opening the yellow pages and locating the name. This has become more complex 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 widespread use of caller ID on most landlines, many numbers may come up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to block their details from appearing. Reverse phone lookup services have stepped up to these changing demands to offer a very timely service to modern phone users.

There are two common functions for lookup directories.

Finding Names

If you are getting calls from someone and only a number shows on your caller ID, or you want to identify cellular phone callers, reverse phone lookup directories can help you find out the name listed to the phone number of concern. Just by typing in the number you will be able to identify whoever is responsible for those calls of concern.

People needing such services include those who need to identify a number often texting their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no accessible directory for cell phone numbers. Other people may use lookup directories when they want to identify a name registered to a landline that is unpublished. If you have a phone number but are uncertain who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup website can assist you.

Finding Addresses

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

This may not be a common need for some people, but it does have its uses in some situations. Such as a parent in a rush to track down a teenager who has run away or is still out long after curfew. If they can find phone numbers from the teenager's belongings or cell phone a reverse phone lookup could quickly reveal addresses and names of locations the child may be located.

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

Lookup directories can also give you a connection to other various types of information, including income brackets and address histories, and one site even gives a map with an general pinpoint of the most current location.

There is a nominal price for any up to date reverse phone lookup website, but if your business or personal situation demands certain data it is more than worth the payoff in the long run. The charge is necessary because this variety of information is not easy or free to research, compile, and store, so distributing it immediately to people like you must also collect a charge to make up for such operational expenditures.

There likely will never be a phone book for cellular numbers, and even if they were compiled most likely the majority of the numbers would be unpublished as is the case with many home phone numbers right now. The only way to obtain access to these numbers is to pay a small fee either to do a single phone number lookup or to join a lookup directory if you will be using the service on a regular basis.