How to set up Apollo Meetings and Dialer for phone outbound and booking

Open Apollo → top right gear → "Calendar Settings."

Click "Connect Calendar." Choose Google or Microsoft. OAuth permission flow.

After connection, Apollo can read your availability (busy times) and write events to your calendar.

Each user connects their own calendar. For round-robin Meetings (covered in step 4), all participating reps must connect their calendars.

Set your default working hours: Calendar Settings → "Available Hours." 9am-5pm in your local time zone is standard. Define per-day if you do not work Fridays or want different hours different days.

Set buffer time: 5-10 min between meetings is standard. Buffers prevent back-to-back booking that leaves no prep time.

Open Apollo → top nav → "Engage" → "Meetings" → "Create Meeting Type."

Name the meeting type by purpose: "Discovery Call — 30 min," "Demo — 45 min," "Quick Intro — 15 min." Avoid generic ("Call with John") names.

Duration: 15 min for qualification calls, 30 min for discovery, 45-60 min for demos. Shorter is better for cold inbound (lower friction to book).

Location: integrate Zoom or Google Meet for automatic conferencing link. Apollo creates the meeting URL and embeds it in the calendar invite + confirmation email.

Custom questions: ask 1-2 qualifying questions on the booking form (Company size? Current solution? Timeline?). Each additional question drops booking rate 10-15% — use sparingly.

Redirect URL: after booking, redirect to a thank-you page or content page. Track conversions via UTM parameters on the redirect URL.

Confirmation email: customize the auto-sent confirmation with calendar invite, location/link, prep materials. Apollo defaults to a basic template — replace with branded copy.

For team booking: create a Round Robin Meeting Type. Apollo → Meetings → "New" → "Round Robin."

Add team members. Each must have calendar connected (step 1).

Distribution algorithm: choose "Pure Round Robin" (rotate by booking order), "Load Balanced" (rep with fewest meetings this period gets the booking), or "Priority" (Apollo prefers specific reps when available).

Set fallback: if no rep available in the prospect's preferred slot, Apollo can show next available with any rep OR show "no availability." Pick based on whether routing the right rep matters more than booking the meeting.

Buffer + working hours apply per-rep. If Rep A works 9-5 PST and Rep B works 9-5 EST, round-robin shows the union — but books the appropriate rep based on local availability.

Test with your own browser in incognito: open the booking link, walk through booking, verify the right rep gets the booking and calendar event.

Apollo Dialer requires the Organization plan ($149+/seat/mo) or a Dialer add-on.

Open Apollo → Settings → "Dialer Settings."

Buy a phone number: Apollo lets you purchase a US or international number through Twilio (Apollo's underlying provider) for ~$2-5/month per number.

Buy Dialer Minutes: outbound calls consume per-minute credits. US outbound: $0.02-0.05/min. Buy in packs ($50-500). Set monthly auto-recharge.

For local presence (caller ID matching prospect area code): purchase a number per state/region you call into. 5-10 local numbers = ~$25-50/month. Local presence boosts pickup rate 30-50%.

Bring Your Own Number: if you already have a Twilio, RingCentral, or Aircall number, integrate via Apollo → Settings → Dialer → BYO Number. Saves the per-month number cost; minute costs still apply.

Open Apollo → Settings → Dialer → "Recording Settings."

Two-party consent states (CA, CT, FL, IL, MA, MD, MI, MT, NV, NH, PA, WA): legally required to inform the called party AND obtain their consent before recording.

One-party consent (most other US states + federal): only the rep needs to consent. Default in most states.

Enable automatic announcement: when recording, Apollo plays "This call may be recorded for quality and training" at call start. Required for two-party states.

Recording storage: Apollo stores recordings indefinitely on Organization plan. Recordings linked to the call activity in the contact record.

EU/UK/Canada: GDPR + PIPEDA + UK Data Protection require explicit consent. Cold-call recording in EU is high legal risk; consult counsel before enabling for EU prospects.

For safety: enable recording for inbound only, OR for outbound only after manual consent. Disable automatic recording on cold outbound calls.

Open Apollo → Settings → "CRM Integrations." Connect HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, or Zoho.

Map meeting bookings: when a prospect books via Apollo Meetings, create a Meeting activity in CRM. Includes meeting type, time, link, rep, prospect.

Map call logs: when a rep makes a Dialer call, create a Call task in CRM. Map outcome (Connected/Voicemail/No Answer/Wrong Number) to CRM-native disposition values.

Map call recordings: Apollo can attach recording URL to the CRM call task. Recordings remain hosted in Apollo; CRM stores the link.

Map meeting outcomes back: after a booked meeting completes, Apollo can ask the rep to log outcome (Showed / No-show / Rescheduled). Outcome flows back to CRM.

Verify the sync end-to-end: book a test meeting, make a test call, check CRM 5 minutes later. Both should appear with correct contact, rep, and notes.

Daily rep workflow: open Apollo → "Engage" → check dialer queue (contacts ready to call). Make calls. Log outcomes. Sync to CRM automatic.

Daily rep workflow: check Meetings dashboard for upcoming bookings. Confirm prep time. Add prep notes to Apollo contact record.

Weekly manager review: Apollo → Analytics → Meetings → Booking Conversion Rate (% of meeting-link clicks that result in booking). Target 30-50%. Below = booking flow is broken (too many questions, wrong duration).

Weekly manager review: Apollo → Analytics → Meetings → No-Show Rate. Target under 20%. Above = qualification or reminder cadence problem.

Monthly review: Dialer Minutes usage per rep. Top reps usually use 800-1,500 minutes/month. Reps using under 300 may be avoiding calling — coach.

Quarterly: review Local Presence number ROI. Numbers with under 10 calls/month should be released to save $2-5/month each.