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 locating their name. Things have grown 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 unlisted.

Even with the development of caller ID on most home phones, a lot of numbers may show up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to block their details from coming up. Reverse phone lookup directories have stepped up to these changing times to provide a very valuable service to modern phone users.

There are two typical uses for lookup directories.

Locating Names

If you are getting calls from someone and only a number is revealed on your ID, or you want to figure out cell phone callers, reverse phone lookup directories can help you find out the name registered to the number of concern. Just by entering the phone number you will be able to identify the person who is behind those calls of concern.

People needing this service include those wanting to identify a number constantly calling 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 Other people may use lookup directories when they want to identify a name registered to a home phone that is unpublished. If you have a phone number but aren't sure who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup service can deliver the information.

Finding Addresses

another common purpose is to locate an address for someone, whether you know the name of the person or not. Once you find the information connected with a certain number most services will give other sorts of information as well, such as the address of an home phone or an address listed to a cell phone number.

This may not be an everyday need for some people, but it does have its uses in some situations. For instance, consider a parent in a rush to track down a teenager who has run away or has not returned home well past curfew. If they can find phone 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 at that time.

Other circumstances may be looking for addresses to mail out party invitations to your child's classmates. If you have the phone number you can access their address and easily deliver the invite 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 address histories, and one site even gives a map with an general pinpoint of where the home or business is located.

There is a small charge for any legitimate reverse phone lookup directory, but if your business or personal life requires accurate information it is more than worth the payoff in the long run. The charge is necessary because this kind of information is not easy or free to research, compile, and store, so dispensing it immediately to consumers such as you must also come with a charge to account for these operational expenditures.

There probably will never be a phone book for cell phone numbers, and even if there were it is probable the majority of the numbers would be unlisted as is the case with many home phone numbers right now. The only way to obtain access to these phone numbers is to give a minor charge either to complete a one time number search or to join a lookup directory if you will need to access the directory on a regular basis.