Craftlogic
Craftlogic Crafts a Better Recruiting Platform with RingCentral’s SMS API
Now when a job candidate receives an SMS message, it comes from the phone number of the recruiter handling that account. People can use that number to call you or text you back.
Founded in 2003 on the belief that software development is a craft and that quality results require highly talented workers—craftspeople, not interchangeable drones—Craftlogic Software LLC has always been in the business of finding the right people. Originally a consultancy and outsourced software development shop, Craftlogic expanded its business in 2008 to include IT recruiting services for its clients.
Over the time it has been in business, getting job candidates on the phone has become progressively harder, says President, CEO and Founder, Kevin Ferguson. What works much better is a system of email and SMS mobile messaging notifications, tied back to an appointment scheduling system on the company’s website, he says; otherwise, recruiters get stuck in an endless game of phone tag.
For example, one recent opening for a technical salesperson attracted more than 900 resumes over the course of 10 days, Ferguson says. “So we had 900 people we needed to contact—and we contact every single person, whether it be by email, text message, or a phone call—and out of that group, we had maybe 100 we needed to talk to. The problem is, making a phone call is a pain because you can’t catch people anymore.” If the recipient of the call doesn’t recognize the number that pops up on caller ID, they won’t answer, so the recruiter is stuck left leaving a voicemail. “Even if the person calls right back, by that time, the recruiter is off doing something else. So email and SMS are the best way to deal with it, especially today. It’s just not worth it to call.”
Instead, Craftlogic sends job candidates messages, and each message contains a link to a scheduling app on its website. From there, they can schedule a call with a recruiter, whose whole calendar is online. Craftlogic’s proprietary applicant tracking system also sends appointment reminders to help ensure candidates will answer the phone, or cancel in advance if the agreed-upon time no longer works for them.
A year ago, Craftlogic reprogrammed its proprietary applicant tracking system to send those text messages through the RingCentral Platform APIs.
The problem
Craftlogic has been a RingCentral customer since 2007, and it has had SMS text notifications as part of its applicant tracking system for almost that long. Originally, those SMS notifications were routed through another service provider. However, as soon as Ferguson saw that RingCentral’s expanding family of APIs included a text messaging service, he knew Craftlogic ought to switch. The reason? In a word, consistency.
With the other SMS gateway, text came from a phone number associated with that service, rather than from a Craftlogic business phone number. When people receive a mobile text message, they expect to be able to text back. Making sure those replies got to the right recruiter in a timely manner was not automatic. Craftlogic’s developers had to create an app that would take those replies and forward them to the right person via email, Ferguson says.
“It was an inconvenient, but workable, situation,” he says. However, once he knew he had an alternative with RingCentral, the old system looked like an unnecessary kludge.
An even more basic reason to switch was to save money. SMS service was included with Craftlogic’s RingCentral subscription, whereas the other SMS gateway charged based on the number of messages sent. The cost wasn’t exorbitant, Ferguson says, “but why pay for something when you don’t have to? On the other hand, we were already paying for that capability with RingCentral, so why not use it?”
After studying the RingCentral API for SMS, his developers very quickly got it working with the Craftlogic applicant tracking system, which is written in C#.
The results
Now when a job candidate receives an SMS message, it comes from the phone number of the recruiter handling that account, even if the message was sent by an automated system like the one for appointment reminders. Because automated messages go out exactly as if they were sent from the recruiter’s phone, “people can use that number to call you or text you back,” Ferguson says. Much like sending email from a business account, as opposed to a webmail service like Gmail, having all business phone communications come from a business phone number creates a more consistent, professional impression.
“Now, with the RingCentral softphone on the computer, and the RingCentral app on smartphones as well, no matter where a recruiter is day or night, weekend or whatever, they are going to get that call or message back, and they can respond to that if they want to,” Ferguson says.
At the same time, by using the RingCentral Phone, recruiters can maintain some separation between their work and personal lives, he says. Rather than giving out their personal mobile number, they use the RingCentral app to make and receive calls, or send and receive messages, using the same business phone number that they would use in the office. That also means they know when they are getting business calls and texts, rather than personal ones, because they come through the RingCentral app.
“For our recruiters, this makes it simple—it’s all one phone number, one way of communicating, whether by phone or text,” Ferguson says.
As soon as Ferguson saw that RingCentral’s expanding family of APIs included a text messaging service, he knew Craftlogic ought to switch.