It used to be that everyone had a standard phone in their home and locating a number or address simply required opening the phone book and locating 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now that cell phones are widely used and many people do not even have home phones, and if they do their number may be unpublished.

Even with the invention of caller ID on most home phones, many numbers may appear without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to block their details from coming up. Reverse phone lookup providers have responded to these changing demands to provide a very timely service to resourceful phone users.

There are two common uses for these directories.

Finding Names

If you are getting calls from someone and only a number shows on your ID, or you need to identify cellular phone callers, reverse phone lookup services can assist in finding the name registered to the phone number in question. Just by entering the number you will be able to identify the person who is initiating the calls of concern.

People in search of such services include those who need to identify a number frequently texting their spouse or children's cell phone, since there is no phone book for cell phone numbers. Other people may use lookup directories when they want to know a name registered to a landline that is unpublished. Whenever you have a phone number but are uncertain who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup service can help.

Locating Addresses

The other typical function is to find an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you gain access to the contact information linked with a particular phone number most directories will deliver other sorts of information as well, which includes the address of the home phone or the address connected to 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. For instance, consider a parent needing 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 reverse phone lookup could quickly reveal addresses and names of places the child may be at that time.

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

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

There will be a minor fee for any legitimate reverse phone lookup service, but if your business or personal life demands particular data it is more than worth the payoff in the end. The charge is necessary because this kind of information is not simple or free to research, compile, and store, so issuing it on demand to others like you must also include a charge to account for these serviceable expenditures.

There likely will never be a phone book for cellular numbers, and even if they were compiled most likely a lot of the numbers would be unpublished just like many landline numbers right now. The best way to get access to such numbers is to give a nominal charge either to do a one time number search or to join a lookup directory if you will be using the service on a regular basis.