Standard phone books used to provide you with the ability to look up a number if you had the individual's name. You could also look up a business name, phone number and address by the type of business. But if you had a phone number and you were in need of finding out whose number it was or needed to get a corresponding address from the phone number you would have to have a second phone book known as a reverse directory. Most individuals do not have a reverse directory in their home, but thanks to the internet it is now possible to look up the person by reverse phone address directories on line.

The reverse directory printed phone books were something that few people owned. They were typically only owned by telemarketing companies for the purpose of canvassing a neighborhood over the phone at the same time. This made it possible for a telemarketing service to work a neighborhood at a time. However if you were in need of looking up a name and address that matched this number chances were you would be out of luck.

This is no longer the case, finding a name from a number or address is now easy. The best way to do this search is to look up the number or address on the online phone book. By placing the name or number in the provided spot you can find out who the number or address belongs to. This can be handy if you have a number that you cannot remember who it belongs to.

If the online phone book cannot locate the number it will link you over to a site for a reverse phone address service that can provide you with the desired information. They will allow you to enter the information, either the phone number or the address and then run a search. Most services will provide you with the basic location information, such as the phone town and state, they may even provide you with the coordinates of the location.

The sites will typically give you the chance to find out the information if you enter elect to pay a fee. These fees are typically less than a $1. 00 each. The site may also provide you with an opportunity to buy a group of searches such as 10 searches for $5. 00.

It is important to note though that many of these services will have a time limit for the searches. They may only permit you to have 30 days to use the other charges.

This may be a good idea if you think you will have more than one number you will need to look up. If you do not think you will need the other uses then you may want to purchase the one time search. Keep in mind though that the per call rate for a group of calls may be considerably less than the onetime fee, so even if you think you will use some of the searches it may be worth it to you to purchase the block of searches.

Regardless of whether you need one number or a group of numbers a reverse phone address service can be helpful when you have that number you just cant remember who it belongs to. There are several of these services available. It is a good idea to compare rates if you are going to be numerous searches. Otherwise the one time rate may not be a big enough difference to search for the best priced service.