It used to be that everyone had a landline phone in their home and finding a phone number or address was a matter of opening the phone book and searching for the name. Things have grown more complicated now that cell phones are in common use and many people do not even have landlines, and if they do their number may be unpublished.

Even with the development of caller ID on most landlines, some numbers may appear without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to block their details from appearing. Reverse phone lookup providers have stepped up to these changing demands to provide a very useful service to modern phone users.

There are two common uses for lookup services.

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 services can help you find out the name registered to the number of concern. Just by typing in the number you will be able to identify the person who is initiating those calls of concern.

People needing this service include those who need to identify a number often 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 landline that is unlisted. If you have a phone number but are uncertain who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup service can deliver the information.

Finding Addresses

another common function is to locate an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you gain access to the contact information linked with a certain phone number most services will give additional data as well, such as the address of an landline or an address connected to a cell phone number.

This may not be an everyday need for some people, but it does have its uses in quite a few situations. Such as a parent desperate to track down a teenager who has run off or is still out well past curfew. If they can get access to numbers from the teenager's bedroom or cell phone a reverse phone lookup could quickly reveal addresses as well as names of places the teenager may be at that time.

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 find their address and get the invite in the mail without calling and tracking down other busy family.

Lookup websites can also give you access to other sorts of information, like income brackets and previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an general pinpoint to the business or home's location.

There is a small charge for any legitimate reverse phone lookup service, but if your business or personal situation demands accurate information it is worth the money in the long run. The charge is required because this kind of information is not easy or free to research, collect, and protect, so dispensing it as needed to people such as you must also come with a fee to cover these serviceable expenditures.

There probably will never be a phone book for cellular numbers, and even if they were compiled it is probable many of the numbers would be unlisted just like many home phone numbers today. The best way to gain access to these numbers is to pay a small charge either to complete a one time phone number search or to join a lookup service if you will be using the directory long term.