Not long ago, everyone had a landline phone in their home and searching for a phone number or address was a matter of opening the phone book and finding the name. It is often more complex now that cell phones are widely used and many people do not even have home phones, and if they do their number may be unlisted.

Even with the invention of caller ID on most landlines, a lot of numbers may appear without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to block their details from coming up. Reverse phone lookup directories have stepped up to these changing demands to offer a very useful service to resourceful phone users.

There are two typical functions for lookup services.

Finding Names

If you are receiving calls from someone and only a number shows on your ID, or you want to figure out cellular phone callers, reverse phone lookup directories can help you find out the name listed to the phone number in question. Just by entering the phone number you will have access to whoever is behind the calls of concern.

People needing lookup directories include those who need to check up on a number frequently texting their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no accessible directory for cell phone numbers. Other people may use this when they want to know a name connected to a landline that may be unlisted. If you have a number but are uncertain who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup website can help.

Locating Addresses

The other typical use is to find an address for someone, whether you know the name of the person or not. Once you plug into the information connected with a particular phone number most services will give other sorts of data as well, such as the address of the home phone or an address associated with a cell phone number.

This may not be an everyday need for some people, but it does have its benefits in quite a few situations. Such as a parent desperate to track down 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 child may be at that time.

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

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

There will be a small charge for any legitimate reverse phone lookup directory, but if your business or personal life requires certain data it is money well spent in the long run. The fee is unavoidable because this variety of information is not simple or free to research, compile, and protect, so dispensing it on demand to others like you must also come with a charge to cover such working expenditures.

There probably will never be a phone book for cellular numbers, and even if they were compiled it is probable the majority of the numbers would be unlisted as is the case with many home phone numbers right now. The only way to obtain access to these phone numbers is to give a minor charge either to complete a single number lookup or to join a lookup directory if you will need to access the service on a regular basis.