I asked this question a couple years ago and got a series of what I considered illogical answers, so I let it go, since no one really knew. I’m trying again, but with the added situation that phone numbers are now mobile. That is, if you change phone service providers, you will still have the same number. It seems to be an achingly important service that someone should be providing, particularly since, as is noted in another thread here, everyone gives out their number to just about anyone. If it’s so important to be contacted, why isn’t there some way to find out someone’s cell number? The cell companies - the big three or four, anyway - could certainly coordinate something like that, maybe even sharing revenue. Doesn’t make much sense to me to not have such a service. Dopers? Any thoughts? Is there an actual, logical reason that such a service does not exist? Seems like a practical and economically feasible feature to add to daily life. xo, C.
Because an awful lot of people don’t want to pay for ( either in overages or used minutes) calls from people they didn’t give their number to.
This might be of interest to you.
Personally, I’m very happy to not be on any such database. All of my friends and acquaintances have my number, and anyone business-related who I’d genuinely want to talk to can get it from the secretary. The number of unwanted cell phone calls I’ve received is maybe 3 in the past 10 years outside of the occassional wrong number.
Is 411 a useful service when looking up numbers of private individuals? I never used it even before cell phones.
Lots of people myself included are happy not to be listed even without the who pays for the calls issue. I think it is great that strangers have a more difficult time contacting me.
Forthed. Why on Earth would I want someone calling me who I don’t know? As Gazpacho said, it’s not the money. I have enough minutes that phone time is effectively free. Think about it, in your entire life, has someone calling you who you don’t know ever been a benefit? If a long lost cousin wants to find me, he can probably come up with an email address if he works at it hard enough.
If my phone company ever tried to put my number in a directory, I’d drop them like lava.
But maybe you do know the person, but have lost contact with him/her.
There are times when I wish I could have found a friend’s or customer’s cell phone number, which I didn’t have handy for some reason. But for every legitimate need such as this, I imagine there are hundreds, thousands, or more telemarketers who would be calling those numbers. This has costs of a consuming a person’s time, tying up his phone, using up his minutes (which does matter to some people), and causing significant aggravation. It would be a highly impractical and destructive feature to add to daily life.
I read recently that when cell phone companies asked their customers, they didn’t want. I do know that even on land-lines, the number of unlisted numbers is growing steadily and has been from the beginning, even though you have to pay extra to be unlisted.
I know one person who has programmed their home phone not to ring when a caller from an unknown number calls. They are invited to leave a message, but very few get returned. I realized that if two such people wanted to talk to each other, they couldn’t.
And yes, I have gotten phone calls from unknowns that I actually wanted to receive. More to the point, do I want to have to add to my database, the number of every doctor, say, that I make an appointment with?
Absolutly.
There do exist directories for mobile numbers in the UK but they’re run by individual networks not one central agency. Almost everyone says “No, I don’t want an entry in it”
Mobiles are not like landlines. Landlines are phoning a place. Mobiles are phoning a person. A small distinction I hear you say? Well I’ve never heard of the level of fashion landlines or of people decorating them with sparkly stars.
Mobiles are very personal and I hate giving my number out even though we don’t pay to receive calls in the UK.
Same here. I dropped my land line five or six years ago. I have caller ID block on my cell. I would happily pay more to keep the status quo (but don’t tell Verizon that).
The main thing is that 411 is mostly useless in cities over say 200,000 people unless you are calling people with unusual names.
Based on the above posts, it appears that telemarketing and the generally increased personal fear levels of people in the last few years have changed the public’s view of phone numbers and the public listing of them. Not so many years ago, before people used mobile phones so much, if you had a phone, you were in the phone book. It was a convenience to be listed. It doesn’t seem that most posters here would view it that way. However, particularly in view of the fact that so many people are dispensing with their land lines entirely, I still think it would be a good thing to be able to find a person’s phone number if you didn’t know it. Obviously, those who didn’t want people to have access to their numbers, for their own reasons, should have the chance to opt out.
This is only tangentially related, but Google has an experimental service for getting numbers of local businesses. It is pretty handy if, say, you’re out and about and want to call a restaurant for take-out.
To me, this matter is emblematic of a number of unfortunate developments in society in the last few years. I suppose that could sound like a curmudgeon talking, but I’ve thought about this question quite a bit and I think there are many more reasons to want or need to find someone’s number than there are for that person to avoid “detection.” I predict that there will come a time that such a directory will be developed and it will be seen as more useful than problematic. xo, C.
Yup, when I call 411 for a landline, I can ask for “Mr. Smith who lives on Straight Dope Street.” With a mobile it would be “Yeah, um… Mr. Smith. No, I don’t now his billing address, it could be his home address, or maybe his work address, he works for a newspaper, I don’t know their address… He sometimes uses a P.O. box, does that help?..”
Also, there are tons of pay-as-you-go plans and, according to shows like CSI and Law & Order, some mysterious disposable phones that are totally anonymous and therefore untraceable.
Some people change phones and numbers every time their contact runs out. I can’t see it being particularly feasible to try to manage a database that could change so much in a short time.
Even the majority of people that I know and like don’t have my cell phone number, and I intend to keep it that way.
For your average run-of-the-mill telephone call, I want it to go to my work or home phone, and I’ll get the message next time I’m there. My cell phone is for important calls that can interrupt whatever else I’m doing when I’m not at home or at work.
And, as pointed out before, I don’t want to pay (directly or through using up “free” minutes) for calls from people I don’t know. And no, your minutes aren’t free. None of them. They’re just prepaid.
If there’s ever a directory like that, I don’t want to be in it.