Choosing a word number for a law firm
Published
How to choose a legal word number: start from the caller's words, keep the word short and at the end, say it aloud, and check what else the digits spell.
Start with the caller's words
Pick the word a caller would use for their problem, not the word the firm uses for its practice. Someone after a collision thinks CRASH or WRECK, not tort. A family member after an arrest thinks BAIL or JAIL. A short, plain word they already have in mind is the easiest to recall.
Short words at the end
A US phone number is a three-digit area code, a three-digit exchange code and a four-digit line number. A four-letter word fills the line number exactly, a three-letter word like LAW or DUI leaves one digit before it, and a five-letter word reaches back into the exchange code. A word at the very end reads best, because the caller can remember the first digits as a group and finish with the word.
Seven-letter words have to fill all seven digits after the area code, so they match at most one number in each area code. A shorter word is far easier to find in the area code you want.
| Key | Letters |
|---|---|
| 1 | None |
| 2 | ABC |
| 3 | DEF |
| 4 | GHI |
| 5 | JKL |
| 6 | MNO |
| 7 | PQRS |
| 8 | TUV |
| 9 | WXYZ |
| 0 | None |
Source: ITU-T Recommendation E.161: arrangement of digits, letters and symbols on telephones
Say it out loud
Read the whole number aloud the way it would be said in a radio spot: the area code, the digits, then the word. Listen for digits that run together or a word that could be heard as another word. If the leftover digits form an easy group, like a repeated digit or a round number, the number is easier still.
Check what else the digits spell
Each key carries three or four letters, so the same digits spell more than one word. The digits that spell LAW also spell JAY and LAY. Listings here show other words the same digits spell, so you can make sure none of them is one you wouldn't want next to the firm's name.
Before you buy
- The word names the caller's problem or the firm's work, not a result.
- The area code is one your clients see as local.
- The number reads cleanly aloud, word and digits together.
- No other word the digits spell would embarrass the firm.
- The firm's phone system can take a new number.