The Sense alternative for agencies that need the calls.
An AI voice agent that calls your candidates and workers and writes every answer back, from $1,000 a month.
Just some of the teams that already put Underheard on the phone.
Calls go out. Answers come back.
Every call,
on the record.
- Outcome
- Qualified, Available, Confirmed
- Needs you, for a recruiter
- Answers
- Licenses, transport, gear, start time
- Written back to your ATS
- Summary and transcript
- A short summary up top
- Every word underneath
Here's why agencies pick a calling agent over a suite.
One job, done on the phone.
Screening, availability and open shifts, all by call, with every answer written back.
See the Calls list
Open shifts, offered by phone.
It offers the shift to the workers you pick and marks who said yes for your recruiter.
See shift calls
Your questions, at any hour.
Write the questions, pick when it calls, and change both whenever you like.
See screening callsAgentHi Kim, I'm Brightline Staffing's AI assistant. Can you confirm the picker packer shift on Friday at 6 AM?
KimYes, I'll be there.
AgentThanks, Kim. I'll let your recruiter know.
Set it up in minutes.
Describe the job and your agent is ready in ten minutes. Add your list and it calls at any hour, so your recruiters place faster.
Start freeCalls the moment they apply.
Each new applicant gets a call as soon as they apply, with the job explained and screening started.
Speaks 120+ languages.
Each worker hears the job in their own language and answers the same way.
Hear it before you buy.
Try a call from our agent in your browser and judge the voice yourself.
One thread per worker.
Calls, texts, WhatsApp messages, emails and transcripts sit together, with each recording on the worker's page.
Live in days, not months.
| underheard. | Sense | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to go live | Underheard: Live in 4 days | Sense: Live in 2 months (G2) |
| Screens applicants by phone | Underheard: yes. Screens applicants by phone | Sense: yes. |
| Offers a second shift when it calls | Underheard: yes. Offers a second shift when it calls | Sense: no. |
| Writes every answer back to your ATS | Underheard: yes. Writes every answer back to your ATS | Sense: yes. |
| Texts your workers | Underheard: yes. Texts your workers | Sense: yes. |
| Hands live calls to your recruiter | Underheard: yes. Hands live calls to your recruiter | Sense: partly. Inbound, via AI Receptionist |
| Try it on your own phone first | Underheard: yes. Try it on your own phone first | Sense: no. |
| Calls, messages, emails and transcripts in one thread | Underheard: yes. Calls, messages, emails and transcripts in one thread | Sense: partly. Partly |
How Underheard and Sense HQ differ for staffing.
Sense Messaging next to an Underheard call
Sense Messaging is the texting and WhatsApp side of Sense. Recruiters text candidates from inside Sense, and every conversation is written back to the ATS. Underheard opens with a phone call. The agent rings the applicant or worker, asks your questions and settles it in one conversation, with a text or WhatsApp before and after the call. Calls, messages, emails and transcripts then sit in one thread per worker, so your recruiter reads the whole story in one place.
SenseAI voice calls and Underheard's agent
Sense AI is the name Sense uses for the AI built into its platform. Its Conversational Voice AI holds real-time phone calls that collect candidate details, answer common questions and prequalify people against each role's criteria. Underheard's agent introduces the job, answers questions and screens in 120+ languages, so every worker hears the role in the language they know best. When someone asks for a person, it hands the live call to your recruiter with a short spoken summary first.
Going live: two months or four days
G2 asks reviewers how long a product took to implement. For Sense, G2 reviewers put it at about two months, shown as Time to Implement on its head-to-head pages. Underheard's promise is four days for the whole agency. Your first agent is ready in 10 minutes, and from there it calls each new applicant, leaves a voicemail when nobody picks up and calls back on your schedule.
Sense, Underheard and Bullhorn
Sense names Bullhorn among the staffing ATSs it partners with, and its site has a page setting Sense against Bullhorn's own automation product. Underheard works inside the ATS you already run. Every answer from every call goes back to Bullhorn, Avionté, TempWorks and more, with scores, skills and certifications in the fields your recruiters search on, and the transcript and recording sit on the worker's page, ready for your recruiter.
Need calls, not a whole suite? Underheard is built for you.
Start with the calls and keep the systems you already have.
Old candidates, back on the phone.
It calls the people who went quiet, asks if they are looking and writes every answer back.
Wake up your bench
Your recruiter has the last word.
The agent prepares the booking and a person confirms it. Nothing goes out unseen.
How hand-offs work
Answers land where you work.
Your ATS, CRM, sheet or chat tool, plus webhooks and an API for the rest.
Ask about your systemQuestions agencies ask about Sense.
What does Sense HQ do?
Sense HQ is the name many people use for Sense, the recruiting software made by Sense Talent Labs. It works alongside your ATS, and its staffing edition, Sense Platform for Staffing, combines automated workflows, candidate messaging and AI agents that match, engage and screen candidates. Underheard puts the phone first. Its agent calls applicants and workers about screening, availability and open shifts, and each answer lands back in your ATS.
How much does Sense cost?
Sense's final price comes as a quote from its sales team. Its pricing page lists separate monthly packages for the staffing platform, the AI Recruiter and messaging, and asks anyone with pricing questions to request a quote. Sense's own comparison page says its pricing is generally quote-based and varies with hiring volume and features. Underheard is priced starting at $1,000 a month.
Is Sense HQ legit?
Yes. Sense is a real software company. Sense Talent Labs was founded in 2016, has its office in San Francisco and sells its recruiting platform to staffing firms and in-house hiring teams. If phone calls are what your agency needs most, Underheard is an AI voice agent built for exactly that job, and a whole agency goes live with it in four days.
How is Sense different from TextUs?
Both sell texting to recruiters. TextUs is a texting platform, and its workforce page talks about swapping emails and phone calls for real-time texts. At Sense, texting is one product, Sense Messaging, sold next to its AI agents and Voice AI. Underheard is built around the call itself. Its agent phones applicants and workers, sends a text or WhatsApp before and after, and writes every answer to your ATS.
Who are Sense HQ's competitors?
Sense compares itself with Bullhorn Automation on its own site, and G2 runs head-to-head pages for Sense against Whippy AI and TextUs. For agencies where the phone is the bottleneck, Underheard is the alternative to look at. Its agent screens new applicants, finds out who can work this week and offers the open shifts in 120+ languages, and your whole agency is live in four days.
How do candidates feel about AI recruiter calls?
Mostly good. In Bullhorn's GRID Talent Trends 2026 report, 92% of candidates rated AI voice interviews as good as human ones or better. Hourly workers want a fast, clear answer about the job, and a short call gives them one. Underheard's agent calls at any hour, talks in the worker's own language and puts them through to a recruiter live when they ask for one.
Will AI replace staffing recruiters?
No. AI takes the repetitive calls off the desk, and recruiters keep the work that needs a person: clients, placements and judgment calls. Bullhorn found in 2025 that firms putting AI to work are 2x more likely to grow their revenue. With Underheard, the agent screens, checks availability and offers open shifts, then your recruiter confirms every booking before it goes out.
How long does it take to set up an AI recruiter?
Underheard takes four days to get a whole agency live. The agent itself is ready about 10 minutes after you describe the job. From then on it calls each new applicant the moment they apply, sends a text or WhatsApp before and after, leaves a voicemail when nobody answers and calls back on your schedule, with every answer saved to your ATS.
Start with the calls. Keep your stack.
Book a demoSense details from sensehq.com, Sense's help center and G2 reviews, checked 4 November 2026.
By Navid Mani, co-founder and CEO of Underheard. Updated 4 November 2026.