© First interviews by voice
Chiamaka Eze answered: Tell me about a time you dealt with an angry or upset customer. What happened, what did you do, and how did it end? Quote found in the recording: One woman came to my shop very angry because we delivered her order to the wrong estate.. Customer focus: 4 out of 5. Rank 1 on the shortlist.
Your best applicant may be one you never call.
Thousands apply, and your team has time to speak to a few. Callround gives every applicant a first interview by voice, on their own phone. You get a ranked shortlist, with each recording and the exact words behind every score. Your team makes every decision.
We prepared this hiring round to test Callround. The company and the applicants are test names, and their answers were written for the test and spoken by a computer voice. The run is real: every interview, transcript, follow up, score and signal here was produced by Callround.
A job opens and thousands apply. Nobody can phone them all.
[01]The situation. A job opens and thousands apply. Nobody can phone them all, so most are judged on a CV or a test and never get to speak.
[02]What it costs you. The person who would have been best at the job may be in the pile you never reached. The few you did call took weeks of your team's time.
[03]What Callround does. It interviews every applicant by voice, asks follow up questions about what they said, and scores each answer against the skills you chose, showing the words behind each score.
[04]Who decides. You do. Callround recommends and shows its reasons. Nothing goes to an applicant until a named person on your team confirms it.
[01]The workspace
This is the real recruiter screen, showing a test hiring round. Open any applicant, read an answer, and see the words behind each score.
| # | Applicant | Band | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Advance | 3.9 | |
| 2 | Advance | 3.7 | |
| 3 | Review | 3.5 | |
| 3 | Review | 3.5 | |
| 5 | Review | 3.4 | |
| 6 | Needs a person | Review | 3.1 |
| 7 | Review | 2.5 | |
| 8 | Not yet | 2.0 |
Customer service agent, Brightwater Bank
The band is a recommendation from Callround AI. A person makes the decision.
When a customer was upset, they arranged for the right bag to reach her in 40 minutes and added a small discount.
They breathed before each sentence when their voice was getting tight.
They verified her identity first and asked for the time, amount and ATM location when handling an ATM issue.
They caught a mistake on their daily check the next morning and reversed the entry.
They listed callers by how time sensitive their parcel was and called the urgent ones first.
One woman came to my shop very angry because we delivered her order to the wrong estate. I could see she was not just angry about the order. She had guests coming that evening. So I said sorry. Did not defend the rider. And rang him while she was standing there. He was close. So I arranged for the right bag to reach her in 40 minutes and added a small discount. My voice was getting tight. So I breathed before each sentence. After that I started checking the address with the customer by phone before dispatch. and complaints on that fell.
Describes a specific case where the customer's need was identified (wrong delivery), action taken (apologized, arranged correct delivery, offered discount), and how it ended (complaints reduced).
Shows self-awareness of stress, uses breathing technique to stay calm, and implements a process to prevent future issues.
I would verify her identity first, then ask for the time, amount and ATM location. My next step is to check for an automatic reversal before logging anything, because many failed dispenses reverse within hours and an unnecessary dispute slows everything. If the debit stands, I raise the dispute with the terminal number, give her the reference and the real timeline. I would not promise money today, because I cannot guarantee it, but I would offer practical options for today. I would also note the call clearly so she never has to repeat herself.
Shows a clear approach: verifying identity, checking for reversal, and escalating if needed. Steps are ordered and linked to the problem.
Shows care for record-keeping by noting the call clearly, which ensures accurate documentation and avoids mistakes.
At a cooperative office, I once posted a member's N20 ,000 contribution to another member with a similar name. I caught it on my daily check the next morning. I reversed the entry. Posted it to the right member. Called both to explain. And told the manager in writing. Neither lost anything. I also asked to add the account number to every posting slip.
Names a specific mistake, correction steps, and outcome. Shows care for accuracy and rules.
Clear, structured, and specific. Each step is mentioned in order.
I would decline to share anything, because without verification I cannot know that he is who he says, and a wrong guess exposes the account holder's money, but declining is not the end of my job, his real problem is paying a supplier, so I would ask if the account holder can reach us, because 3 way calls with verification are possible, or offer the option of a signed mandate for the future, I would log the attempt in case it was social engineering, if he pushed, I would stay courteous and repeat the same line, since consistency protects both of us.
Answer shows understanding of customer's need to pay supplier, acknowledges the problem, and proposes solutions to address it.
Answer shows awareness of verification rules and protecting account holder's money, and mentions logging attempts for security.
During a fuel scarcity week at my last job at a courier firm, calls tripled and our delivery time slipped. I could not fix the fuel, so I chose what I could control. I listed callers by how time sensitive their parcel was, called the urgent ones first with honest new times, and sent a short message to the rest. I held a rule for myself of one clear update per customer, so nobody was forgotten. My own stress showed in a rushed call, which I redid properly. The lesson was that telling people early reduce the repeat calls by a lot.
Answer shows steps taken to prioritize tasks, manage communication, and self-correct. Details how to handle urgency and follow-up.
Shows self-awareness of stress and corrective action. Describes specific moment and how it ended.
I work the phones at a delivery company for two years and I like that each call was a small problem I could finish. Money problems feel bigger to people, so a bank is where good support matters most. Good service to me is three things. You are verified quickly, the agent explains what happened in plain words, and you get a reference and a time for the fix. I once had that experience with my own bank and I trusted them more afterwards.
Describes specific actions: verified quickly, explained in plain words, reference and time for fix.
Addresses question directly, structured with specific points, clear and organized.
We prepared this hiring round to test Callround. The company and the applicants are test names, and their answers were written for the test and spoken by a computer voice. The run is real: every interview, transcript, follow up, score and signal here was produced by Callround.
[02]The problem
573,680
people applied for 3,927 jobs at the Nigeria Customs Service. 3,852 received an offer.
Source: Nairametrics, reporting the Customs Service's own figures
1,911,692
people applied for 30,000 jobs across four security services.
Source: BusinessDay, reporting the board that ran the recruitment
833 hours.
A ten minute first call to each of 5,000 applicants takes one person 833 hours, which is about 21 working weeks.
Our own sum: 5,000 times 10 minutes, at 40 hours a week.
0.7%
of applicants received an offer
So most hiring starts by deciding who not to listen to.
[03]How it works
Paste the job description. Callround AI drafts the skills to look for, what each score from 1 to 5 looks like, the questions and the follow up questions. You edit and approve every line.
A skill
Customer focus
A question
Tell me about a time you dealt with an angry or upset customer. What happened, what did you do, and how did it end?
Follow up questions
Each applicant gets their own link. You can also share one link for the whole role.
On their phone, one question at a time. Callround says first that it is an AI, and asks the applicant to agree. It listens to each answer and asks a follow up when something is missing. An applicant can type instead, or ask for a person.
Question 1 of 6
Tell me about a time you dealt with an angry or upset customer. What happened, what did you do, and how did it end?
Every answer becomes text. Each skill gets a score from 1 to 5, with the applicant's own words as the reason. Anything Callround is not sure about goes to a person.
Tell me about a time you dealt with an angry or upset customer. What happened, what did you do, and how did it end?
4 / 5
One woman came to my shop very angry because we delivered her order to the wrong estate. I could see she was not just angry about the order. …
Found in the recording
Describes a specific case where the customer's need was identified (wrong delivery), action taken (apologized, arranged correct delivery, offered discount), and how it ended (complaints reduced).
Listen to any answer, change any score with a reason, then confirm. The message to the applicant waits for a named person.
We prepared this hiring round to test Callround. The company and the applicants are test names, and their answers were written for the test and spoken by a computer voice. The run is real: every interview, transcript, follow up, score and signal here was produced by Callround.
[04]How Callround AI works, in short
Speech becomes text, with the time of every word.
Callround AI chooses one approved follow up question, or moves on.
Each answer is scored three times, against the score descriptions.
Every quote is looked for in the answer. Doubt goes to a person.
Applicants fall into Advance, Review or Not yet.
[05]Core features
Paste a job description and get a first draft of the whole interview: the skills to look for, what each score from 1 to 5 looks like, the questions, and the follow up questions.
Every question and follow up is checked for things an interviewer must not ask about: religion, tribe or home state, marriage, pregnancy and children, health, disability, politics and age.
Three ready sets to start from: customer service, sales and graduate trainee. Each has its skills, score descriptions, worked examples, questions and follow ups.
Asks your questions in order, listens to each answer, and asks one of your approved follow up questions when the answer leaves something out.
Turns each spoken answer into text, with the time of every word, so a quote can be played back at the moment it was said.
Any applicant can type their answers instead of speaking, or ask for a person to interview them. Nobody is asked why.
Scores each answer from 1 to 5 on each skill, three times over, against your score descriptions and worked examples.
Every quote behind a score must be found in the applicant's own words. A quote that cannot be found is thrown away and never shown.
When the three scores disagree, a quote is missing or the recording is hard to hear, the answer goes to a person.
Puts every applicant in one of three groups: Advance, Review or Not yet. Applicants whose scores are too close to tell apart share a place.
A few plain sentences about each applicant, each one tied to something they said.
Notices when two applicants give the same answer, when one device is used for several applications, or when an answer speaks to the scoring system instead of the question.
Puts the answers that need a person in order, so the most uncertain ones for applicants close to a cut off come first.
A decision needs a named person, a two step code entered in the last ten minutes, and the review work done. Deciding for a group also needs a check sample.
Prepares the message to each applicant from a fixed wording. It stays a draft until a person releases it.
Every approval, score change, review, decision and released message is written down with who did it.
From their interview page an applicant can ask for a person to review their result, ask for their data, ask for a correction, or ask for everything to be deleted.
[06]Case studies
We prepared this hiring round to test Callround. The company and the applicants are test names, and their answers were written for the test and spoken by a computer voice. The run is real: every interview, transcript, follow up, score and signal here was produced by Callround.
[07]Evidence
[08]Who it's for
[09]Rules
These are built into the software, and tested every time it changes.
A person decides. No decision exists without a named person, and no message leaves without that decision.
In the database
Consent comes first. No question is asked until the applicant agrees.
In code, tested
It always says it is an AI. That is the first sentence of every interview.
In code, tested
It scores the answer, not the person. The scorer is given the words of the answer and nothing else: no name, no voice, no phone number.
Tested
No camera. No reading of faces, feelings, accent, age or gender. None of that is built.
Every score shows its words. A quote that cannot be found in the applicant's answer is thrown away.
In code, tested
When unsure, a person looks. Doubt sends an answer to a reviewer. It never lowers a score.
Tested
Each employer's data is fenced off. Every action is written to a log that cannot be edited.
In the database, tested
[10]Pricing
One role and up to 50 completed interviews.
₦0
Book a pilotAny number of roles. You pay only for interviews an applicant finishes.
₦800per completed interview
about $0.60
Talk to usHiring rounds of more than 20,000 interviews a month.
From₦400per completed interview
about $0.30
Talk to us[11]Questions
Have a question?
Talk to us ↗Yes. The first thing every applicant hears is that the interviewer is an AI and not a person, that the interview is recorded, and that a person at your company will review the answers and make the decision. Nothing is asked until the applicant agrees.
No. Callround AI interviews, writes down what was said, scores each answer and recommends a group: Advance, Review or Not yet. A named person on your team makes every decision. The software will not record a decision without one, and no message reaches an applicant before that.
It scores what the applicant said in answer to the question, against the skills and score descriptions you approved. It does not score accent, voice, age, gender, religion, tribe, home state, disability or looks. There is no camera. The scorer is given the words of the answer and nothing else.
Every score comes with the applicant's own words as the reason, and each quote is checked against the recording. Tap a quote to hear the moment it was said. If you disagree, change the score and give your reason. When Callround AI is not sure, the answer goes to a person instead of getting a low score.
A role has between three and eight questions. Most applicants finish in 8 to 12 minutes.
Each applicant has their own link, and each role can have one link to share with everyone. You copy the link and send it the way you already reach applicants: a text message, an email or a chat.
The answer is sent in small pieces while the applicant speaks, and a piece that fails is sent again. If the connection drops in the middle of an answer, the pieces already sent are kept. An applicant can also type their answers.
Yes. Any applicant can type their answers instead of speaking, or ask for a person to interview them. Nobody is asked for a reason. The request arrives in your list with a date to answer by.
English.
Each employer's recordings are kept apart from every other employer's. A recording is only ever opened through a link that lasts five minutes. An applicant can ask for their recording, transcript and scores to be deleted, and the deletion is recorded.
The pilot is free: one role and up to 50 completed interviews. After that it is ₦800 for each interview an applicant completes. Hiring rounds of more than 20,000 interviews a month are priced from ₦400 an interview.
One where the applicant answered every planned question. An interview that was abandoned, or that failed for a technical reason, is not counted.
Start with the free pilot. When you are ready to go further, talk to us and we will set up your account. There is no card payment on this site.
Tell us about your hiring and we will reply by email.
Talk to us