Technology

An introduction to the reverse phone lookup service

People often ignore calls that do not display the caller’s number, usually in the hope that a message will be left to identify the caller. If this is not the case, the recipient of the call wonders who it was and why they called in the first place. The option of taking advantage of a reverse phone lookup service takes the frustration out of this situation.

How does reverse phone lookup work?
While a normal phone book allows users to find people’s numbers by name, reverse phone lookup directories work the other way around. Users type a number into the search panel and the directory will display the name and address of the caller.

How much is it?
This varies from directory to directory. Some offer at least part of their services for free. The white pages reverse lookup directory, for example, will instantly provide the caller’s address on the screen, which is free.

To receive the caller’s name, the user must enter a mobile number, which will be sent a text with the caller’s name at a cost of $1.99.

Other free reverse lookup companies include Anywho Reverse Directory, 555-1212, Reverse Payphone Lookup and InfoUSA, as well as a range of Canadian, UK and European services.

Other services, like the Phone Registry, for example, require a membership to use the search features. This company has a five day trial offer for $1 or full membership at $19.99 per month. This allows members an unlimited number of searches.

In some cases, the cost of using a reverse phone lookup service can go up to nearly $45 for an annual membership, so it’s certainly wise to compare multiple services.

Is reverse phone lookup reliable?
Most reverse phone lookups return a result, although on occasion, cell phone numbers may not be found. As a general rule, callers using cell phone numbers are more difficult to find, as they may not necessarily be publicly registered. But you don’t have to worry as you won’t be charged any fee if you don’t get results.

Other options with reverse phone lookup
Some companies go even further than providing the name and address of the caller. The reports can include the names of the caller’s family members, records related to their property, other phone numbers connected to them, and more.

In other words, reverse phone lookup features can also be used to check people’s backgrounds. Sensitive information such as credit card or financial details, social security or account numbers and passwords are naturally not included in this type of search.

Disadvantages of Reverse Phone Lookup
It could be argued that these types of services can border on breaching privacy laws. A person trying to contact a company with a query, for example, may not get a response, but then start getting a lot of calls from related companies calling them by name, or they get copious amounts of spam.

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