1. Start with the geography your firm actually serves
Surprise is a municipality in Maricopa County, Arizona. The 2020–2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimate records 154,948 residents, with a margin of error of 123. That figure describes the city’s population; it does not establish call demand, legal need, competition, case volume or revenue. For AI Answering, the useful question is narrower: which calls from people seeking your firm should be answered when your staff is unavailable?
Recommended approach
Define your service area and intake boundaries before configuring call handling. Decide whether the system should ask where a matter occurred, where the caller is located, or whether the firm accepts the matter. Keep Surprise and Maricopa County as geographic qualifiers rather than treating city population as a forecast of phone traffic.
