Typically, when you recall someone you haven't spoken to in awhile or need to locate an old friend who you don't have a number for, you of course find the phone book and search for their last name. Yet in current times most people do not even waste space in their office or homes with the chunky paper phone books, but go to internet pages containing the same information and look it up much quicker.
Yet things happen in most people's lives where they receive a phone number and want to determine who it belongs to. Phone books are designed only to look up the name of the business or person you hope to contact, and therefore offer little help. With cell phones being so popular these days it gets even more complicated because there isn't a cell phone phone book free to the community like with landlines. Obviously, technological advances have made another type of number compilation necessary.
Reverse phone lookup is exactly what the name suggests: it reverses the method in which you usually use a number directory. Instead of browsing for a name to locate a number or address, you use a phone number to locate the name or address of whoever the number may be registered to.
A lot of people do not even know this can be done, yet with the development of reverse phone lookup services it is now possible by many businesses. It is also growing with individuals who find themselves interested in a number for whatever reason. It is a different take on the phone book that is likely to outdate the need for paper phone books in the future.
If you get too many unwanted phone calls, whether they be annoying hang ups, distasteful pranks, or even solicitations or collection services who don't clearly identify themselves but call at all hours, there is a way to figure out just who is connected to the calls by tapping into one of these services.
You can check out whitepages.com and find a limited reverse phone lookup directory for the most basic information or for published landline numbers, but there are two sorts of information that cannot be retrieved with any other means other than a more detailed directory.
- * When you have a number but no other information and must find a matching name.
- * If you have someone's cell phone or an unpublished home phone number and want to find a name, address, or other information. Whitepages.com is not going to help with this type of information because it is not updated with the information you are searching for.
Reverse phone lookup directories put out a lot of time compiling information, ensuring it is as updated as possible, and maintaining it all in an organized listing so that it can be quickly used by people as needed.
A lot of this information retrieved is not that simple to obtain and some of it they have to pay for in advance. For example, a reputable, accurate listing will have to pay cell phone networks for accurate listings of phone numbers. As with any business, it is understandable that you will have to pay a nominal charge to have access to their records.
The key to the fee is it should be low and reasonable, usually about a dollar or so for a one-time phone number search and around 15 dollars for more long term subscription to the |listings|directory|service}. Any site that demands a large charge for limited information retrieved should be avoided.
There are too many worthwhile directories out there to throw away time and money on incomplete resources, so be certain they can deliver the information you want before wasting your money.