How to Find a Local Number

Unfortunately we don't always carry with us all the phone numbers we might need to call. If you find yourself in a bind and need to locate a local telephone number for a person or business, getting the information is fairly easy to do and can typically be accomplished in just a few minutes.

Things You'll Need

• Phone
• Phone Book
• Internet Access

Instructions

1. Look up the number you need to find in your local phone book. Most businesses and people are still listed in the traditional phone book. If you don't have your own phone book ask to borrow a phone book at a nearby business to look up the number or look in a phone book located at a payphone. Individuals are typically listed in the white portion of the book by last name. Businesses are typically listed in the yellow portion, alphabetically under the type of business they are (i.e. "Dentist").

2. You can also look up a number on the internet. Check the white pages website for individuals and the yellow pages website for businesses. You can also typically find a number by doing a Google search and placing the person or business you're looking for in quotation marks and then adding the city. For instance: "John Doe Dentist" San Francisco.

3. A third option is to call 411 and ask the operator for the number. 411 will typically require you to list the city and state in order to search for the listing, and also may need you to spell the name of the person or business you are looking for.

References

• White Pages Online
• Yellow Pages Online

Resources

• White Pages Online
• Yellow Pages Online