OT - NO (Non-Operational) Question

Happy holidays to all. Quick question with regard "Text/SMS" messaging. I know this is not really the place to ask, so forgive me for bending your eyes. It appears there's really no easy way to determine the origin of a text sent to a cell, at least as far as I can see without involving the provider(611) Any quick links/ideas as to where to research this? Perhaps something obvious I missing? And yes, I tried, lmgtfy.com (: Thanks in advance, and happy holidays/Xmas/New years to all, -Joe Blanchard