It used to be that everyone had a standard phone in their home and locating a phone number or address was a matter of opening the phone book and searching for the name. This has become more complex now that cell phones are widely used and many people do not even have landlines, and if they do their number may be unlisted.

Even with the invention 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 name from appearing. Reverse phone lookup directories have stepped up to these changing demands to offer a very valuable service to resourceful phone users.

There are two typical uses for these directories.

Finding Names

If you are receiving 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 number of concern. Just by typing in the number you will be able to identify the person who is initiating those bothersome phone calls.

People looking for such services include those who need to check up on a number often calling their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no accessible directory for cell phone numbers. Other people may use this when they need to know a name registered to a landline that is unlisted. If you have a phone number but aren't sure who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup website can assist you.

Finding Addresses

another typical purpose is to locate an address for someone, whether you know the name of the person or not. Once you gain access to the information connected with a particular phone number most directories will give other sorts of information as well, which may include 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 benefits in some situations. For example, take a parent desperate to locate a teenager who has run off or has not returned home long after curfew. If they can get access to numbers from the teenager's bedroom or cell phone a reverse phone lookup could quickly uncover addresses as well as names of places the child may be located.

More common circumstances may be searching for addresses to mail out party invitations to your child's peers. If you have a phone number you can access their address and get the invite in the mail without calling and tracking down other busy people.

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

There will be a minor fee for any legitimate reverse phone lookup directory, but if your business or personal situation requires accurate data it is more than worth the payoff in the long run. The charge is required because this sort of information is not easy or completely free to research, pull together, and store, so distributing it as needed to consumers such as you must also include a fee to cover these serviceable expenditures.

There more than likely will never be a public directory for cellular numbers, and even if there were it is probable the majority of the numbers would be unlisted just like many home phone numbers today. The best way to obtain access to such numbers is to pay a small fee either to complete a single phone number lookup or to join a lookup service if you will be using the directory long term.