It used to be that everyone had a standard phone in their home and searching for a number or address simply required opening the yellow pages and finding the name. This has become more complicated now that cell phones are in common use and many people do not even have home phones, and if they do their number may be unpublished.

Even with the development of caller ID on most home phones, some 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 responded to these changing times to offer a very timely service to resourceful phone users.

There are two typical uses for these directories.

Locating Names

If you are getting calls from someone and only a number is revealed on your caller ID, or you need to identify cellular phone callers, reverse phone lookup services can help you find out the name registered to the phone number in question. Just by typing in the phone number you will have access to the person who is responsible for the calls of concern.

People looking for this service include those who need to identify a number often calling their spouse or teenager'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 Other people may use lookup directories when they want to know a name registered to a home phone that may be unpublished. If you have a number but aren't sure who it belongs to, a reverse phone lookup directory can assist you.

Locating Addresses

The other typical function is to find an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you plug into the information associated with a certain phone number most directories will deliver additional data as well, which includes the address of an landline 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 some situations. Such as a parent in a rush to locate 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 belongings or cell phone a lookup directory could quickly uncover 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 the phone number you can access their address and mail out the invitation without calling and tracking down other busy parents.

Lookup websites can also give you a connection to other various types of data, such as income brackets and previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an general pinpoint to the business or home's location.

There will be a small charge for any legitimate reverse phone lookup directory, but if your business or personal life demands accurate information it is worth the money in the long run. The charge is unavoidable because this variety of information is not easy or free to research, pull together, and save, so dispensing it as needed to consumers like you must also come with a charge to make up for such operational expenditures.

There more than likely will never be a phone book for cell phone numbers, and even if they were compiled it is probable the majority of the numbers would be unpublished just like many home phone numbers today. The best way to obtain access to these numbers is to pay a nominal charge either to complete a one time phone number lookup or to join a lookup service if you will need to access the service long term.