text: when someone calls my cell phone but i am in another city how in the world does the call find me? my daughter called me on my cell phone while i was out on the highway in another state 300 miles from her home. how in the world did the call locate me when no one knew where i was? when you turn your phone on it reports your phone number (registered in your sim card) to the nearest cell tower.  from there, your carrier's nation wide network routes your calls similar to how the internet works.