Reverse Directory Assistance: How Reverse Directory Assistance Works

How Reverse Directory Assistance Works

Published By M. B. Aria

There are some differences between an ordinary telephone directory and reverse directory assistance, as this article explains ...

Reverse directory assistance works like a telephone directory. Instead of searching for a person's name to get their address or phone number, you use the address to find out who it belongs to. There are some differences between an ordinary telephone directory and reverse directory assistance.

Reverse Directory Assistance vs. a Telephone Directory

A telephone directory lists all the subscribers in a given location or all the subscribers of a particular telecommunications provider. In a telephone directory, the names are listed alphabetically, with their surname followed by their first name. Everyone in that geographical area will be included in the telephone directory. Anyone who does not wish to be included in the telephone directory will need to pay a fee to be taken out of it. If you are calling someone with caller ID, you will need to block your number if you do not want it to be seen.

On the other hand, reverse telephone directory assistance is arranged by address. The list is first arranged by city and then by street name and then by house number. Also called a criss-cross directory, its main function is to find out the name of someone who lives in a particular address or to find out who one’s neighbors are. At the height of the popularity of reverse directories, they often came with the regular telephone directory.

With the recent advancements of technology, the printed form of the reverse telephone directory slowly disappeared and became replaced by online forms or those that were placed on CD-ROM. If you would like to search for these reverse telephone directories, you might still be able to find them in selected libraries. Access to them was always limited to government officials and to telecommunications service providers.

Some countries have made the reverse telephone directory illegal because of the potential breaches in privacy that this could bring about. Other companies provide a CD-ROM version wherein you can find names and addresses but the rest of the information is encrypted for added protection of the subscribers. You can also just call a number for reverse directory assistance and pay a fee for the information that you get.

Next article: Searching Free Public Records Online In Missouri

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