Not long ago, everyone had a landline phone in their home and searching for a phone number or address was a matter of opening the phone book and searching for their name. It is often more complicated now that cell phones are widely used and many people do not even have landlines, and if they do their number may be unpublished.

Even with the widespread use of caller ID on most landlines, a lot of numbers may show up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to stop their details from showing up. Reverse phone lookup directories have responded to these changing demands to provide a very valuable service to modern phone users.

There are two typical functions for lookup services.

Searching for Names

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

People in search of such services include those wanting to check up on a number often phoning their spouse or teenager's cell phone, since there is no accessible directory for cell phone numbers. Others may use this when they need to know a name registered to a home phone that may be unpublished. Whenever you have a phone number but are uncertain who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup website can help.

Searching for Addresses

The other typical purpose is to locate an address for someone, whether you know the name of the person or not. Once you plug into the information linked with a specific number most services will give other sorts of data as well, such as the address of the landline or an address associated with a cell phone number.

This may not be a common need for most people, but it does have its uses in some situations. For instance, consider a parent needing to track down a teenager who has run off or has not returned home well past curfew. If they can come up with 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 located.

More common situations may be looking for addresses to mail out party invitations to your child's peers. If you have a phone number you can access their address and mail out the invitation without calling and tracking down other busy family.

Lookup directories can also deliver access to other kinds of information, like income brackets and address histories, and one site even gives a map with an estimated pinpoint to the business or home's location.

There will be a nominal price for any relevant reverse phone lookup directory, but if your business or personal situation demands accurate information it is more than worth the payoff in the long run. The charge is necessary because this sort of information is not easy or completely free to research, compile, and save, so dispensing it as needed to people such as you must also come with a fee to cover these serviceable expenditures.

There likely will never be a phone book for cellular numbers, and even if there were it is probable many of the numbers would be unpublished as is the case with many home phone numbers today. The best way to gain access to these phone numbers is to put up a small charge either to complete a one time phone number lookup or to join a lookup service if you will be using the service on a regular basis.