Typically, when you remember someone you haven't haven't heard from in awhile or need to contact an old friend who you don't have a number for, you simply go to the phone book and find their last name. These days most people do not even take up room in their living spaces with the oversized paper phone books, but go to internet pages containing the same information and find what they need much quicker.
Yet problems arise in most people's lives where they obtain a phone number and need to know who it belongs to. Phone books are designed only to look up the name of the business or person you want to contact, and therefore won't help much. With cell phones being so commonplace these days it gets even more complicated because there isn't a phone number directory free to the community like with landlines. Apparently, developments in technology have made another type of phone number directory necessary.
Reverse phone lookup means exactly what the name states: it reverses the method in which you usually use a phone number directory. Rather than searching for a name to locate a phone number or address, you use a phone number to retrieve the name or even address of whoever the number may be listed under.
Most people do not even realize this can be done, but with the existance of reverse phone lookup websites it is now widely used by many businesses. It is also on the rise with people who get concerned with a phone number for whatever reason. It is a more modern form of the phone book that is likely to erase the demand for paper phone books in the future.
If you are receiving a lot of unwanted phone calls, whether they are annoying hang ups, distasteful pranks, or even solicitations and collection services who don't leave a message but call nonstop, there is a way to discover exactly who is connected to the calls by tapping into one of these directories.
You can check out whitepages.com and use a free reverse phone lookup directory for very basic information or for published home phone numbers, but there are two sorts of information that cannot be accessed with any other means other than a more detailed service.
- * When you have a phone number but no other information and need a name.
- * If you have a cell phone or an unpublished landline number and want to find a name, address, or additional information. Yellowpages.com will not help with these sorts of information because it is not updated with the information you want.
Reverse phone lookup services put out quite a bit of time finding information, keeping it as accurate as possible, and storing it all in an organized fashion so that it may be easily utilized by consumers on demand.
Much of this information collected is not easy to obtain and some of it must be paid for as well. For instance, a reputable, well maintained directory will have to purchase numbers from cell phone networks for updated listings of phone numbers. As with any business, it is understandable that you will be required to hand over a small fee to have access to their records.
The deal about the fee is it should be low and reasonable, for the most part around a dollar or so for a one-time phone number search and around 15 bucks for more long term subscription to the |listings|directory|service}. Any service asking for a large charge for limited information retrieved should be avoided.
There are too many valuable websites out there to throw away time and money on inaccurate resources, so be certain they can deliver the information you want before wasting your money.