It used to be that everyone had a landline phone in their home and searching for a number or address simply required opening the phone book and searching for the name. It is often 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 unlisted.

Even with the development of caller ID on most home phones, many numbers may show up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to stop their name from appearing. Reverse phone lookup providers have stepped up to these changing demands to offer a very valuable service to modern phone users.

There are two typical functions for these services.

Locating Names

If you are receiving calls from someone and only a number is revealed on your caller ID, or you want to figure out cell phone callers, reverse phone lookup services can assist in finding the name listed to the phone number in question. Just by typing in the number you will be able to identify the person who is responsible for those calls of concern.

People looking for lookup directories include those wanting to check up on a number constantly phoning their spouse or children's cell phone, since there is no accessible directory for cell phone numbers. Other people may use lookup directories when they need to know a name registered to a landline that may be unlisted. Anytime you have a number but aren't sure who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup directory can deliver the information.

Finding Addresses

another common use is to identify an address for someone, whether you know the name of the person or not. Once you find the information linked with a particular phone number most services will deliver additional data as well, which may include the address of the home phone or the address associated with a cell phone number.

This may not be a common need for most people, but it does have its uses 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 find phone numbers from the teenager's belongings or cell phone a reverse phone lookup could quickly reveal addresses as well as names of places the teenager may be located.

Other circumstances may be looking 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 or tracking down other busy parents.

Lookup directories can also give you access to other kinds of information, such as income brackets or previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an general pinpoint of where the home or business is located.

There will be a minor fee for any relevant reverse phone lookup website, but if your business or personal situation demands particular data it is money well spent in the long run. The fee is required because this variety of information is not easy or free to research, pull together, and protect, so dispensing it immediately to people such as you must also include a fee to cover such working costs.

There probably will never be a public directory for cellular numbers, and even if they were compiled it is probable a lot of the numbers would be unlisted just like many landline numbers today. The only way to obtain access to these numbers is to give a nominal fee either to complete a one time phone number lookup or to join a lookup service if you will need to access the service on a regular basis.