Not long ago, everyone had a landline phone in their home and locating a phone number or address was a matter of opening the phone book and searching for 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, many numbers may come up without an identifying name and there are ways for callers to block their details from appearing. Reverse phone lookup providers have responded to these changing demands to offer a very timely service to resourceful phone users.
There are two typical uses for these directories.
Searching for Names
If you are getting calls from someone and only a number comes up on your ID, or you need to figure out cell phone callers, reverse phone lookup directories can assist in finding the name listed to the number in question. Just by entering the phone number you will have access to whoever is responsible for those phone calls in question.
People needing lookup directories include those wanting to check up on a number frequently texting 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 listed to a home phone that may be unlisted. Whenever you have a number but don't know who it is connected to, a reverse phone lookup website can help.
Locating Addresses
another common purpose is to find an address for someone, whether you know their name or not. Once you gain access to the information associated with a specific phone number most services will give other sorts of information as well, such as the address of an landline or an address connected to a cell phone number.
This may not be a typical need for some people, but it does have its uses in some situations. For instance, consider a parent desperate to track down a teenager who has run off or has not returned home well past curfew. If they can get access to numbers from the teenager's bedroom or cell phone a reverse phone lookup could quickly reveal addresses and names of locations the child may be located.
Other circumstances may be searching for addresses to send out party invitations to your child's classmates. If you have their phone number you can find their address and mail out the invitation without calling or tracking down other busy family.
Lookup websites can also give you a connection to other sorts of information, like income brackets or previous addresses, and one site even gives a map with an rough pinpoint of the most current location. There is a minor fee for any up to date reverse phone lookup website, but if your business or personal situation demands certain data it is more than worth the payoff in the end. The fee is necessary because this variety of information is not easy or free to research, pull together, and save, so distributing it on demand to consumers such as you must also include a fee to make up for these operational expenditures.
There likely will never be a public directory for cellular numbers, and even if they were compiled it is probable many of the numbers would be unpublished just like many home phone numbers today. The only way to obtain access to these numbers is to pay a minor charge either to do a single number search or to join a lookup service if you will be using the service on a regular basis.