It used to be that everyone had a standard phone in their home and finding a number or address simply required opening the yellow pages and locating the name. This has become more complicated 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 home phones, a lot of numbers may come up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to block their details from coming up. Reverse phone lookup directories have responded to these changing demands to provide a very valuable service to resourceful phone users.
There are two common uses for these services.
Finding Names
If you are getting calls from someone and only a number is revealed on your ID, or you need to identify cellular phone callers, reverse phone lookup directories can assist in finding the name listed to the phone number of concern. Just by typing in the phone number you will be able to identify whoever is behind those bothersome phone calls.
People looking for lookup directories include those wanting to identify a number constantly calling their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no public directory for cell phone numbers. Other people may use this when they want to find a name listed to a home phone that may be unpublished. If you have a phone number but aren't sure who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup service can deliver the information.
Finding Addresses
another typical use is to identify an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you gain access to the information linked with a specific number most directories will deliver additional data as well, which includes the address of an home phone or the address connected to a cell phone number.
This may not be a typical need for some people, but it does have its uses in some situations. Such as a parent in a rush to locate a teenager who has run away 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 uncover addresses as well as names of locations the child may be located.
Other situations may be looking for addresses to mail out party invitations to your child's peers. If you have a phone number you can access their address and easily deliver the invite without calling and tracking down other busy family.
Lookup websites can also deliver a connection to other various types of data, such as income brackets and previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an estimated pinpoint of where the home or business is located.
There is a minor fee for any legitimate reverse phone lookup directory, but if your business or personal life demands accurate data it is more than worth the payoff in the long run. The fee is necessary because this sort of information is not simple or free to research, compile, and store, so distributing it immediately to others like you must also come with a charge to make up for such operational costs.
There likely will never be a phone book for cell phone numbers, and even if they were compiled most likely a lot of the numbers would be unlisted just like many landline numbers right now. The only way to gain access to these numbers is to give a small fee either to complete a one time number search or to join a lookup service if you will need to access the directory long term.