Applicant tracking system (ATS)
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is the software a hiring team uses to store vacancies, applications and candidate records. Teams also use it to move each candidate through the steps of the hiring process. It is the main record of who applied, for which job and with what result.
Almost every staffing agency and most employers with regular hiring run an ATS. It is where a recruiter starts the day: which vacancies are open, who applied and who is waiting for a next step. Every other recruiting tool either feeds the ATS or reads from it.
How does an ATS differ from a recruitment CRM?
| Applicant tracking system | Recruitment CRM | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Manage applications for open vacancies | Build relationships with candidates over time |
| Who is in it | People who applied for a job | Applicants, past candidates and people who never applied |
| Typical moment | From application to hire | Before a vacancy exists and after a placement |
| Typical user | Recruiter handling vacancies | Recruiter or marketer building a talent pool |
Many systems for staffing agencies combine both. The difference still helps when you choose what a tool must do.
What does an ATS do?
- Stores vacancies with their requirements, location and status.
- Collects applications from the career site, job boards and other sources.
- Keeps the candidate record: contact details, CV, notes and history.
- Tracks each step, from new applicant to interview, offer and placement.
- Reports on numbers such as open vacancies and time to fill.
What does an ATS leave out in frontline hiring?
An ATS records what happens. It does not reach the candidate. In frontline hiring that is the hard part. Candidates apply from their phone in the evening, often without a CV. They are at work when the recruiter calls the next day.
So the record shows "new applicant" while nobody has spoken to the person yet. Measuring time to first contact shows how long that gap is.
How do other tools connect to an ATS?
Tools connect to an ATS in three common ways:
- Through the ATS's own API. The tool reads and writes candidate records directly.
- Through an integration platform. One connection reaches many ATSes through a shared interface.
- Through a trigger. The ATS sends a signal, for example when a recruiter links a candidate to a vacancy.
Before you buy a tool, ask what it writes back: answers in fields, a new phase, a note or a new candidate. That decides whether recruiters can keep working in the ATS.
How does Ringtime work with your ATS?
Ringtime works on top of the ATS you already use.
- Your ATS tells Ringtime which candidates to contact, for example when a recruiter links a candidate to a vacancy.
- Ringtime contacts each candidate by phone or WhatsApp and runs your screening questions.
- Ringtime writes the result back: answers in existing fields, a move to the next phase or a note with the summary, depending on your ATS.
- Your system can cancel a candidate at any time. Ringtime then stops on every channel.
Ringtime connects to more than 100 ATSes, including Bullhorn, Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Carerix, Connexys, BrightStaffing, Mysolution and RecruitNow. You keep working in the ATS you know. Ringtime adds the conversations. Read more about AI screening.
To keep your recruiters in the ATS they know, see which systems Ringtime connects to.
