Here's the situation: You're at the office on the phone with a client when your call waiting beeps in telling you that you've got another call. You don't want to interrupt your current customer, so you decide to let the voicemail grab the other call and you'll return it after you're done with the the one you are currently on.

The call is all wrapped up, you check your voicemail and are saddened to learn that the caller didn't leave a message. You check your caller ID on your phone and find the number. You call back, but no one answers. Now you don't know if this was a new client, a wrong number or what? You jump on the Internet and jump over to the Google People Finder, but have no luck running a reverse phone search on it. It must be either unlisted or it's a cell phone number. Bummer, huh?

Did you know that your search doesn't have to end here? There are many services on the internet, which will provide detailed information about the owner of an unlisted telephone or cell phone. These services differ depending on the type of data provided and the guarantees of success.

There are many websites run by private investigators, which will offer guaranteed results and guarantee you don't take a financial loss. If they can't follow the phone number, you get your money refunded 100 percent. The downside to these services is the cost. Prices per search range from as low as $40 per phone number to as much as $150-$200 per search.

There is a lesser expensive alternative to these private investigators. Multiple web pages will allow you to join and gain access to powerful databases and tools used by private investigators to perform your very own search. Although there is no guarantee of success with these services, you normally receive complete access to their databases for a year (or more sometimes!). These services typically run from $30 to $60 for a one-year unlimited access package.

As you may have already noticed, there are several options available to you to assist you in finding the owner of that missed call you had earlier. Which option is right for you?

If you don't run into this predicament often and you only need to trace one specific cell phone number, then you will want to consider using a guaranteed results service provided by a licensed private investigator. You will also want to use this option if you absolutely need to find the owner of a particular cell phone number.

If you run into this scenario quite a bit in your home life or career, then you may want to consider paying for a membership and teach yourself to perform your own searches. Usually, this will cost you less in the long run and isn't overly difficult once your learn how to use the databases and tools available.

Best of luck to you in your hopes of finding the right cell phone number.