Usually, when you are thinking about someone you haven't spoken to 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 look up their name. Yet in current times 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 in everyday life where they have a phone number and want to know who it is connected to. Phone books are designed only to look up the name of the person you hope to reach, so are useless. With cell phones being so commonplace these days it gets even more difficult since there isn't a cell phone listing free to the community like with standard home phones. Obviously, developments in technology have made another sort of phone number listing essential.

Reverse phone lookup functions just what the name states: it reverses the way you typically use a number directory. Instead of searching for a name to locate a number or address, you are using a phone number to locate the name or even address of whoever the number is registered to.

Many people do not even know this is available, yet with the development of reverse phone lookup directories it is now possible in the business world. It is also on the rise with people who find themselves interested in a number for one reason or another. It is a new sort of phone book that is likely to outdate the demand for paper phone books in the future.

If you are bothered by a lot of disturbing calls, whether they are childish hang ups, distasteful pranks, or even solicitations and bill collectors who don't reveal who they are but call nonstop, you can figure out exactly who is connected to the calls by tapping into one of these directories.

You can go to whitepages.com and use a limited reverse phone lookup service for the most basic information or for listed landline numbers, but there are two sorts of information that cannot be retrieved by any other resource besides a more detailed service.

1. * If you have a phone number but no additional information and need a name.
2. * When you have a cell phone or an unpublished home phone number and need a name, address, or additional information. Whitepages.com will not help with these sorts of information because it is not updated with the information you are searching for.

Reverse phone lookup services put out a lot of time obtaining information, double checking that it is as accurate as possible, and maintaining it all in an organized fashion so that it can be easily accessed by consumers on demand.

Much of this information compiled is not that simple to obtain and some of it must be paid for in advance. For example, a reputable, well maintained directory will have to pay cell phone networks for updated listings of phone numbers. As with any business, it is only reasonable that you will be required to pay a nominal charge to have access to their records.

The key to the charge is it should be low and affordable, typically around a buck or so for a single phone number lookup and around fifteen dollars for more long term access to the |listings|directory|service}. Any site that demands a high charge for very little information retrieved should be avoided.

There are too many good listings out there to throw away time and money on inaccurate resources, so make sure they can deliver the information you desire before giving them hard earned money.