Choosing a bail word number

Start with the word your callers use

Most people who call a bail agent have never done it before. They are calling for a son, a partner or a friend, often late at night, and they reach for the plainest words they know: bail, bond, jail. A number built on one of those words matches what is already in their head.

If your company name has one of those words in it, start there. A number that ends in BONDS under a sign that says Bonds is one thing to remember instead of two.

Numbers by word

Count the letters

A US phone number has ten digits: the area code, a three-digit exchange and a four-digit line number. BAIL, BOND and JAIL have four letters each and fill the line number exactly, so the caller hears the area code, three digits and the word.

BONDS, JAILS and COURT reach one digit into the exchange. ARREST and FELONY leave a single digit between the area code and the word. DUI leaves four digits in front of it, so look for four that are easy to say.

The letters on the keys follow an international standard, ITU-T Recommendation E.161, so a word dials the same digits on any standard keypad.

Source: ITU-T E.161: how digits, letters and symbols are arranged on telephone keypads

Pick the area code before the word

Bail is local. The person is held in a county jail and the bond is posted there, so callers look for someone nearby. An area code they know from their own county tells them that before they dial.

Search the area codes of the counties you serve first, then pick the best word you find there. A short word fits more numbers than a long one, so it gives you more to choose from in any one area code.

Bail word numbers by state

Say it out loud

Before you buy, say the number the way you would on the phone or in a radio spot: the area code, the digits, then the word. If you stumble over it, so will a caller repeating it to a relative.

Print the digits under the word on cards and signs. Some callers would rather dial digits than hunt for letters on the keys.