Automate Temp Staff Recruiting with a Custom Voice AI Agent
A custom-built voice AI agent can automate temp staff recruitment for SMBs. Syntora builds these systems using the Claude API for natural conversation and phone integration.
A typical build involves creating a conversational agent that performs initial phone screens, asks qualifying questions, and schedules next steps. The scope depends on integration with your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and the number of unique screening scripts required for different roles.
We built a voice AI agent for a 12-person recruiting firm that places 200 temp nurses per month. The system went live in 4 weeks, cutting their initial screening time from 15 minutes per candidate to a 90-second automated call.
What Problem Does This Solve?
Many staffing agencies start with call center platforms or IVR systems. These tools fail because their rigid, menu-driven logic (“Press 1 for yes, Press 2 for no”) cannot handle the natural, open-ended questions of a candidate screen. A candidate who says “I can start next Monday” instead of “Yes” breaks the script, requiring manual follow-up.
A common workaround is using a tool like Zapier to connect an SMS service to a text-to-speech API. This approach creates a one-way notification, not a conversation. The latency is too high for a real-time call, and there is no state management. If a candidate asks about the pay rate, the workflow has no way to look up the answer and respond.
Consider an agency needing to screen 50 forklift operators for a weekend shift. A recruiter spends 4 hours making calls, leaving voicemails, and logging outcomes. The manual process is too slow to fill urgent temp roles. They need a system that can contact all 50 candidates in parallel and deliver a ranked shortlist within an hour.
How Does It Work?
We begin by mapping your existing screening script into a state machine managed by a Python application. We use the Claude API to understand and respond to open-ended candidate answers. This allows the agent to handle conversational tangents and still gather the required data, like license numbers or years of experience.
The core system is a FastAPI application deployed on AWS Lambda. When a new candidate enters your ATS, a webhook triggers a Lambda function. This function initiates an outbound call, manages the conversation state, and processes the AI's responses. A typical screening call, including 5-7 questions, is completed in under 2 minutes.
After the call, the system transcribes the entire conversation and uses a second Claude API call to extract structured data. This data, including a summary and a qualification score, is posted back to your ATS (like Bullhorn or JobDiva) in under 500ms. Your recruiters see a concise summary directly on the candidate's record without listening to a full recording.
We use Supabase for storing configuration data like job-specific pay rates or screening questions, allowing non-technical staff to update them. Logging is handled by structlog, sending structured JSON to AWS CloudWatch. This lets us build dashboards that track call completion rates, which average above 85%, and AI transcription error rates, which are under 3%. Monthly hosting costs for screening 1,000 candidates are typically under $50.
What Are the Key Benefits?
Screen 100 Candidates in an Hour
The system calls candidates in parallel, enabling you to screen an entire applicant pool in the time it takes a recruiter to manually complete three calls.
One-Time Build, No Per-Minute Fees
We deliver a finished system for a fixed price. You pay only for underlying cloud usage, not a recurring SaaS subscription or per-minute telephony charges.
You Own the Screening Logic
You receive the full Python source code in your company's GitHub repository. There is no vendor lock-in; you can modify the screening scripts yourself.
Alerts When Conversations Fail
Integrated monitoring sends a Slack alert if a call drops, the AI fails to respond, or an API error occurs. This ensures prompt manual follow-up.
Updates Your ATS in Real Time
The agent posts call summaries and qualification status directly to your existing ATS. Your team works from one system without learning a new tool.
What Does the Process Look Like?
Script & Systems Audit (Week 1)
You provide your screening script and read-only API access to your ATS. We map the conversational flow and confirm the required data fields for integration.
Agent Development (Week 2)
We build the core voice AI agent using Python and the Claude API. You receive daily audio samples of the agent running through your script for review.
Integration & Deployment (Week 3)
We deploy the agent on AWS Lambda and connect it to your ATS via webhooks. We test the end-to-end flow with 20 test candidates to ensure data accuracy.
Live Testing & Handoff (Week 4)
The agent goes live on a small batch of real candidates. We monitor performance for two weeks, make final adjustments, and deliver the source code and runbook.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much does a custom voice AI agent cost?
- Pricing is a fixed-price build based on scope. Key factors include the number of unique roles (each needs a different script), the complexity of screening logic, and the quality of your ATS API. A simple availability and certification check is a faster build than a multi-stage screen with conditional questions. We determine a fixed price after a discovery call.
- What happens if a candidate hangs up or the call drops?
- The system logs the partial transcript and automatically flags the candidate record in your ATS for manual follow-up. It can be configured to retry disconnected calls once after a 15-minute delay. The goal is to fail gracefully, ensuring no candidate is lost in the process and a recruiter is always alerted to intervene when needed.
- How is this different from a service like Talkpush?
- Talkpush is a full recruiting platform with its own CRM, messaging tools, and per-seat pricing. Syntora builds a single, specialized voice agent that integrates into your existing ATS. You get a production-grade component that solves one specific problem without paying for a large platform or forcing your team to switch tools.
- Can the agent understand different accents?
- Yes. The underlying language models are trained on global, diverse datasets and handle most common accents with high accuracy. Before the build, we can test performance using audio samples you provide from past candidate calls to benchmark transcription accuracy. This helps set realistic expectations and fine-tune the system for your specific applicant pool.
- How do you handle call recording and consent?
- The agent's first line is always a disclosure like, 'This is an automated call for [Firm Name] on a recorded line.' This is a non-skippable part of the script. We build the technical controls you need to comply with regulations, but you are ultimately responsible for legal compliance. The system can be configured to operate differently based on state area codes.
- How many calls can the system make at once?
- The architecture is built on AWS Lambda, which scales concurrency automatically. It can handle hundreds of simultaneous calls without changes to the code. A typical temp agency screening 400 candidates a month will never hit a concurrency limit. The system is designed to handle burst traffic, like after a large job posting goes live over a weekend.
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