Hello,

I'm looking for a commercial service which would be able to provide me
with the following:

1. Phone number lookup and delivery of its global physical location,
as accurate as possible.
2. Be able to provide the service via the Internet.
3. Providing additional information on the number or destination is a
plus.
4. Combining more than one service to come up with more information
would be a great plus.
5. Method & protocol of communication with the service.  For example,
XML or HTTP.
6. Charges and rates.

Thank you.

/Lizardnation

Lizardnation:

	I am trying to determine your questions intent, as there are two ways
of looking at this question. In the case of landline phones, many free
services are available, assuming the phone number is listed, and one
website that has links to most of these reverse lookup services is:


http://www.journaliststoolbox.com/newswriting/phone.html

There are also many that are offered overseas, such as this one for
the Middle East:


http://www.ameinfo.com/reverselookup/

There are also many commercial “private detective services” that will
locate someone for you.


However, I suspect you are interested in locating someone globally by
their cell phone, or other wireless device.

There are many technologies that are being developed to locate someone
for various reasons; the most obvious would be the location of a 911
caller. The FCC has mandated all cell phone companies to be able to
track a cell phone signal accurately, say within 100 yards, by
October, 2001.  Many carriers have requested extensions, because of
technical problems with traditional cell phone hardware.

This is not the case with GSM enabled phones; there are many companies
that offer hardware and software services that will locate exactly the
position of the device.

Such as:


Snap-Smart

http://www.qualcomm.com/press/pr/releases2001/press125.html

Cell-loc

http://www.cell-loc.com/what_locating.html

In the press:


http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,37559,00.html


Snap Track

http://www.snaptrack.com/AtWork/sysdescription.html
True position

http://www.trueposition.com/co_over.html


I would like to follow up further for you. Can you please clarify your
needs, landline or wireless?

Also in the case of wireless, are you interested on a personal level,
or are you interested in implementing (partnering) with one of the
above companies to offer location server technology for your proposed
or existing company?


Colin

---

Request for Answer Clarification by lizardnation-ga on 03 Jun 2002 08:53 PDT

Hello again Colin,

My needs are 'primarilly' landline.  My intention is to provide as a
minimum a lowend City, Country information for the requestor where
they only provide a number.

The more detailed the information, the better of course.  If it can
cover wireless phones, that would be fine.

This is not to gain private investigation information or a personal
need.  It's a business general need to satisfy a proposed publicly
provided service.

Also, I'm not interested (at this time) in wireless location servers.

/Lizardnation

---

Clarification of Answer by colin-ga on 03 Jun 2002 11:08 PDT

Hello again:

Thanks, Lizardnation.

For one time lookups you can go to the link below, enter the phone
number in the approved international format ( i.e. +31 (0)42 123
4567).

http://www.numberingplans.com/index.php3?goto=analysis



If you desire premium access, the same company makes their database
available in four formats;
Text, csv, xls and Microsoft’s MDB format. 

The cost for this service ranges from 4.95 to 29.95 (in Euros) per
month.

http://www.numberingplans.com/index.php3?goto=package

I have tried the service, and it does work, returning information such
as country, city and local telephone company, but no subscriber
information.


Teldir.com sells database information on CD-ROM. 

http://www.teldir.com/real/kapitol/frames/iframe.asp?MapURL=/Real/cdrom.asp&FWidth=600&FHeight=1200


You can search the CD on various criteria, such as:


“Country 
- Name 
- Professional activity
- Telephone/fax number - (except for the United Kingdom, Germany and
the Netherlands)
- Street 
- Neighborhood
- Postal code
- Region”

They do not seem to have the entire world in one database, but have
regional CD’s




Infobel has a nicely arranged web site that includes reverse number
lookup, follow this link:

http://www.infobel.com/World/

I hope this is what you are looking for, if not, please feel free to
ask for a clarification.


Colin

---

Request for Answer Clarification by lizardnation-ga on 03 Jun 2002 12:16 PDT

Hello Colin,

Numberplans is what I was looking for, thank you.

Would you do me a favor and find me one or more competitors to compair
their services and choose the best.  The charges mentioned were
reasonable.

Thank you.

/Lizardnation

---

Clarification of Answer by colin-ga on 03 Jun 2002 13:13 PDT

Hi:

	I searched quite a bit more and could only come up with one more
link, for buying this type of database.




This link has USA and Canada CD databases:



http://list.infousa.com/cgi-bin/abicgi/abicgi.pl?bas_session={bas_session}&bas_vendor=190000&bas_type=lc&bas_page=999&bas_action=directory_assist


I hope this helps.

Colin

---

Request for Answer Clarification by lizardnation-ga on 03 Jun 2002 13:35 PDT

Hello Colin,

That's alright, you satisfied the question before this latest result.

I appreciate the added effort.

/Lizardnation

---

Clarification of Answer by colin-ga on 04 Jun 2002 08:15 PDT

You are most welcome, please request a clarification, if you come up
with any problems.

Thanks again,

Colin

A job well done.