Caller ID doesn’t always tell the big picture about who is calling. Do you answer that call coming in from an unknown area code? Do you answer if you get a call from a local area code… but don’t know who it is? It could be the car dealer letting you know they left a bolt off of your car and they are calling from a different number than you call them with. Some places leave messages so that narrows down if you will answer next time or not. Many times the message left makes you wonder too.

A popular solution is Reverse Lookup Web sites. Just type in the phone number and it comes back with who and where the number is listed with. Rather than having to go to a Web site on your iPhone every time, the Number Guru app offers the feature, for free.

Simply type in the number that you have in question:

And Number Guru tells you the percent chance of it being a ‘spammer’ calling and comments left by others about their experiences with the number. Of course, you could be on a list by a spammer using a new number not yet reported on, but most likely you will get the full picture through the app. The developer states they have 100% of landline numbers and 50% of the cell phone numbers covered. Verizon doesn’t off reverse lookup on their numbers so those callers will remain a mystery… and not get answered on my iPhone.

A nice feature that Number Guru offers that you can’t get looking up a number on a Web site is to call the number back (or ‘text’ if you like). Great if you didn’t answer and now find that it was a someone you need to talk to.

Also available in Number Guru is adding the number to your contacts area. By doing this, the ID you put on the contact will show next time the number calls you so you know who it is and if you should answer. I put a few in under a Business name of ‘spammer’ for the spam callers which now I know when it comes in rather than trying to remember if I looked that number up before.