Access Recruitment CRM (RDB) phone system integration
Access Recruitment CRM — the platform many UK agencies still refer to as RDB — is common in established perm and contract businesses, often alongside Access payroll and back-office systems. Those agencies tend to have longer-standing telephony estates too, which is exactly where the cost and the compliance risk hide. This page covers integrating telephony with Access Recruitment CRM, and what to look at in the wider estate while you are there.
- Dial from the record rather than retyping numbers
- Click-to-dialDial from the record rather than retyping numbers
- Activity written back with duration, outcome and recording link
- Logged callsActivity written back with duration, outcome and recording link
- PSTN and ISDN retirement deadline for legacy UK lines
- Jan 2027PSTN and ISDN retirement deadline for legacy UK lines
- Integrated dialling and screen-pop for consultants working in Access Recruitment CRM.
- A route off legacy ISDN and analogue lines ahead of the January 2027 PSTN retirement.
- Recording, retention and access control configured deliberately rather than left at supplier defaults.
- One provider across phones, connectivity, IT and cameras, so nobody gets to blame the other supplier.
Established agencies, established telephony problems
Agencies running Access Recruitment CRM are frequently the ones we find with the oldest telephony arrangements. The pattern repeats.
- An on-premises phone system that was bought outright years ago and is now unsupported.
- ISDN30 or analogue lines that must be migrated before the PSTN and ISDN retirement date of 31 January 2027.
- Call recording switched on with no retention policy, no access control and no process for responding to a subject access request.
- A maintenance contract that auto-renews, with equipment finance buried inside it.
- No integration between the phone system and the CRM, so all call activity is manual.
What integration looks like here
The integration goals are the same as on any recruitment CRM; the difference is usually that we are replacing a legacy platform at the same time.
- Click-to-dial and inbound screen-pop from consultant records.
- Automatic call activity write-back so desk reporting no longer depends on manual notes.
- Structured outcomes rather than free-text notes, for comparable activity reporting.
- Migration from ISDN or analogue lines to all-IP voice, with existing numbers ported.
- Recording moved onto encrypted storage with a defined retention period and role-based access.
Available integration depth depends on your Access Recruitment CRM version, modules and any on-premises components. We confirm this against your environment before proposing anything.
Want Access Recruitment CRM confirmed against your own tenant?
A review is free, there is no obligation, and you keep the written summary either way.
The legacy line question you cannot defer
The UK’s traditional PSTN and ISDN services are being retired on 31 January 2027, and Openreach has operated a national stop-sell on new legacy copper services in exchanges where full fibre coverage has reached the qualifying threshold. For a recruitment business this is not just a phone issue.
- Voice lines: ISDN30, ISDN2 and analogue lines need migrating to all-IP services.
- Anything else on a phone line: alarm panels, lift lines, door entry, fax and card terminals often sit on analogue lines nobody has audited.
- Broadband: legacy copper-based broadband is affected by the same programme, so connectivity and voice are best planned together.
- Numbers: migration is the moment to consolidate scattered number ranges and retire DDIs nobody uses.
Legacy estate audit — what we look for
- Every line, circuit and number on your bills, matched to what it actually does.
- Which lines are ISDN, analogue or already all-IP.
- Contract end dates, notice periods and auto-renewal clauses.
- Any equipment finance or lease agreement bundled into a telecoms contract.
- Call recording storage location, retention period and who can access it.
- Non-voice devices dependent on an analogue line.
Frequently asked questions
Is RDB the same thing as Access Recruitment CRM?
Access Recruitment CRM is the current product line that grew out of RDB ProNet, following its acquisition by The Access Group. Many agencies and consultants still call it RDB day to day, so we use both names.
We own our phone system outright. Is moving to cloud really worth it?
Owning unsupported hardware is not the saving it looks like once you account for the ISDN retirement, maintenance costs, the lack of CRM integration and the cost of home-working workarounds. That said, we will show you the numbers rather than assert it — if your current setup is genuinely fine for another year, we will say so.
Will porting our numbers interrupt calls?
A properly planned port does not take your numbers out of service. We run the old and new platforms in parallel over the cutover so calls continue to be answered throughout, then cease the legacy service once you are satisfied.
Can you review our existing contract before we change anything?
Yes. We offer a free contract and bill review — upload the agreement and we will tell you what you are actually paying for, what is finance rather than service, and when you can move without penalty.
Related recruitment guides
Audit the legacy estate before the 2027 deadline
We will map every line, number and contract you hold, show you what must migrate, and integrate the result with Access Recruitment CRM.
- Full audit of every line, number and contract you hold
- Honest view of what your CRM will and will not integrate with
- The call data you are not currently seeing, including missed inbound
- A written summary — yours to keep either way