Build Your Own Voice AI Recruiting and Scheduling System
The best voice AI recruiting provider for startups is a custom-built system. It avoids high per-seat fees and integrates directly with your existing applicant tracking system.
A custom scheduler connects your ATS, like Greenhouse or Lever, to an AI agent that screens and qualifies candidates via SMS or email. This lets your recruiters focus on qualified candidates instead of manual pre-screening and follow-ups. The scope is defined by the complexity of your screening criteria and the number of ATS integrations needed.
We recently built a screening and scheduling agent for a 25-person tech company that receives over 300 applicants per month for engineering roles. The system went live in three weeks, reducing their recruiters' manual screening time by 8 hours per week and increasing the qualified-to-interview ratio by 40%.
What Problem Does This Solve?
Startups first try to solve this with scheduling links from tools like Calendly. This works for booking calls but does not screen candidates. Recruiters waste hours on calls with applicants who don't meet basic requirements, like work authorization or specific years of experience, because Calendly cannot ask these knockout questions first.
Next, they look at dedicated AI recruiting platforms like Paradox or Humanly. These platforms are powerful but built for large enterprises. They often require annual contracts starting at five figures and have minimums of 500+ employees. For a 30-person startup, paying for features like advanced compliance reporting and multi-language support is unnecessary overhead. The sales process is long and the implementation takes a full quarter.
A common failure scenario involves a recruiting agency trying to use a patchwork of tools. They use their ATS to track candidates, then manually export a list to an email marketing tool to send screening questions, then manually update the ATS based on replies. This process is slow, error-prone, and a data-syncing nightmare. One client was losing 10% of qualified candidates who dropped off during the multi-day lag between application and first contact.
How Does It Work?
We start by connecting directly to your Applicant Tracking System's API, whether it's Greenhouse, Lever, or Ashby. We use webhooks to trigger a process the instant a new candidate applies. The candidate's resume and application data are parsed by a custom prompt sent to the Claude API, which extracts up to 20 structured data points like skills, years of experience, and previous employers in under 2 seconds.
Based on your rules, the system decides if the candidate is a potential fit. If so, a Python script running on AWS Lambda triggers an SMS via Twilio, asking 3-5 pre-screening questions. For a senior engineer role, this might be: 'Do you have 5+ years of production Python experience? Yes/No'. The candidate's reply is processed, and if they pass, a unique scheduling link is sent. The entire exchange is logged back to the ATS as a note on the candidate's profile.
The core logic is a FastAPI service. We log all events using structlog and store conversation history in a Supabase Postgres database. This allows for detailed reporting on where candidates drop off in the screening process. The total infrastructure cost for processing 1,000 candidates per month is typically under $50, for the AWS Lambda, Supabase, and Twilio usage.
We build a simple dashboard to monitor the system's performance. It tracks key metrics like response rates to initial outreach, pass-through rates for each screening question, and the number of interviews successfully booked. If an API call to your ATS fails more than three times, a structured log alert is sent to a dedicated Slack channel for immediate investigation.
What Are the Key Benefits?
Live in 3 Weeks, Not 3 Quarters
We complete the entire build, from ATS integration to deployment, in 15 business days. Your team starts scheduling qualified candidates immediately.
A Fixed Price, Not a Subscription
You pay a one-time project fee. After launch, you only cover minimal cloud hosting costs, avoiding expensive per-seat or per-hire platform fees.
You Get the Keys and the Blueprints
We deliver the complete Python source code to your company's GitHub repository. You own the code and can have any developer extend it later.
Know About Errors Instantly
We configure AWS CloudWatch alerts that post directly to your Slack. You know if an integration fails before it impacts a candidate's experience.
Speaks Directly to Your ATS
The system writes all notes, screening results, and meeting links directly into Greenhouse, Lever, or Ashby. No new software for your recruiters to learn.
What Does the Process Look Like?
Week 1: Workflow & API Access
You provide read/write API credentials for your ATS. We map out your exact screening questions and scheduling logic, delivering a technical workflow diagram for approval.
Week 2: Core Engine Build
We write the Python code for the AI screening, ATS integration, and SMS logic. You receive a video demo of the system processing a test candidate end-to-end.
Week 3: Deployment & Testing
We deploy the application to AWS Lambda and connect it to your live ATS in a test mode. You receive access to a staging environment to validate the workflow.
Week 4: Go-Live & Handoff
After your final approval, we switch the system to production. We monitor it for one week, then hand over the full source code and a runbook for maintenance.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much does a custom voice AI recruiting system cost?
- The project price depends on the number of roles to support and the complexity of your ATS. A standard build for one role family with a Greenhouse integration typically takes three weeks. Integrating a less common ATS or building complex, multi-stage screening logic for executive roles adds to the timeline. We provide a fixed-price quote after our initial discovery call.
- What happens if the AI misinterprets a resume or an SMS response?
- The AI is tuned for high precision. If it has low confidence in an extraction or response, it defaults to flagging the candidate for manual review. A message is posted to a Slack channel with a link to the candidate's profile in your ATS, so a human recruiter can make the final call. The system is designed to augment, not fully replace, your team's judgment.
- How is this better than an AI platform like Paradox?
- Paradox is an excellent enterprise-grade platform with a broad feature set, including career sites and internal mobility. Syntora builds a focused tool that solves only the screening and scheduling problem. You get a lightweight, fast, and fully owned asset instead of a costly subscription to a platform with features you may not use. There are no per-seat fees or long-term contracts.
- Can this system handle different screening questions for different jobs?
- Yes. We design the system to read screening criteria from a simple configuration file. You can define unique question sets for each job posting, such as asking about specific certifications for one role and portfolio links for another. Updating these questions does not require any code changes and can be done by a non-technical user.
- What happens if our Applicant Tracking System changes its API?
- API changes are rare for major ATS providers, but they happen. Our optional monthly maintenance plan covers this. If a change breaks the integration, we update the code to match the new API specification. Since you own the code, your own engineering team can also make these updates if you prefer.
- Can the system accommodate our company's branding and tone?
- Absolutely. The text for all automated SMS and email messages is defined in a central configuration file. During the build process, we work with you to write copy that matches your company's voice. This ensures the automated outreach feels personal and consistent with your brand, not robotic.
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