It used to be that everyone had a landline phone in their home and locating a phone number or address simply required opening the phone book and finding their name. This has become more complex now that cell phones are in common use and many people do not even have home phones, and if they do their number may be unpublished.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 invention of caller ID on most landlines, some numbers may show up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to block their details from appearing. Reverse phone lookup services have responded to these changing times to offer a very timely service to modern phone users.

There are two typical functions for these services.

Locating Names

If you are getting calls from someone and only a number comes up on your ID, or you need to figure out cell phone callers, reverse phone lookup directories can assist in finding the name registered to the number of concern. Just by entering the phone number you will have access to the person who is responsible for the calls of concern.

People needing lookup directories include those who need to check up on a number frequently 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 want to identify a name connected to a home phone that may be unlisted. Whenever you have a number but aren't sure who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup directory can deliver the information.

Locating Addresses

another typical use is to find an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you find the contact information linked with a particular phone number most services will give other sorts of data as well, such as 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 uses in quite a few situations. Such as a parent in a rush to find a teenager who has run away or has not returned home well past curfew. If they can get access to numbers from the teenager's belongings 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 get their address and easily deliver the invite without calling and tracking down other busy people.

These services can also give you a connection to other kinds of data, 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 will be a minor fee for any relevant reverse phone lookup service, but if your business or personal life requires particular data it is worth the money in the long run. The fee is necessary because this sort of information is not simple or completely free to research, pull together, and save, so issuing it as needed to others such as you must also include a fee to account for such operational expenditures.

There more than likely will never be a public directory for cell phone numbers, and even if there were most likely many of the numbers would be unlisted just like many landline numbers right now. The only way to obtain access to these numbers is to put up a small charge either to complete a single phone number lookup or to join a lookup service if you will be using the service long term.