Normally, when you are thinking about someone you haven't haven't heard from in awhile or need to locate an old friend who you don't have a phone number for, you of course find the phone book and look up their name. These days most people do not even take up room in their office or homes with the wasteful paper phone books, but prefer to visit internet pages containing the same information and find what they need much quicker.
Yet things happen in most people's lives where they have a phone number and want to identify who it is connected to. Old style phone books are designed around knowing the name of the person you want to contact, so are useless. With cell phones being so commonplace these days it gets even more complicated because there isn't a cell phone listing accessible to the community as with landlines. Obviously, developments in technology have made another sort of phone number compilation necessary.
Reverse phone lookup means basically what the name suggests: it reverses the way you typically use a number directory. Instead of browsing for a name to get to a number or address, you use a phone number to retrieve the name or even address of whoever the number may be registered to.
Most people do not even realize this is possible, but with the invention of reverse phone lookup websites it is now possible by many businesses. It is also on the rise with individuals who get interested in a number for for various reasons. It is a different take on the phone book and could potentially outdate the demand for paper phone books in the future.
If you get a high volume of disturbing calls, whether they be childish hang ups, disturbing pranks, or even telemarketers or bill collectors who don't leave a message but call nonstop, you can identify just who is making the calls by tapping into one of these directories.
You can check out yellowpages.com and use a free reverse phone lookup service for the most basic information or for published landline numbers, but there are two varieties of information that cannot be accessed by any other source other than a more detailed listing.
- * When you have a phone number but no other information and must find a matching name.
- * When you have a cell phone or an unlisted residential number and want to find a name, address, or additional information. Whitepages.com is not likely to help with this type of information because it is not equipped with the information you are searching for.
Reverse phone lookup directories spend a lot of time compiling information, keeping it as updated as possible, and maintaining it all in an organized listing so that it may be quickly used by people as needed.
Much of this information compiled is not easy to obtain and some of it they have to pay for in advance. For instance, a legitimate, well maintained directory will have to purchase numbers from cell phone networks for accurate listings of phone numbers. As with any business, it is only reasonable that you will have to hand over a small charge to have access to their information.
The key to the charge is it should be low and fair, usually about a buck or so for a one-time phone number search and about 15 bucks for more long term subscription to the |listings|directory|service}. Any directory that demands a large charge for very little information delivered should be avoided.
There are too many worthwhile directories available to waste time and money on incomplete services, so be certain they can deliver the information you want before handing over your money.