In-House SDR vs Outsourced Appointment Setting for Telecom Providers

Let’s say you don’t have time to find customers and book sales meetings. Even your employees are very busy with other tasks. So you hire an employee from another company to do so. That’s called outsourcing. Or let’s say you are employing your own salesperson to find customers and book meetings because you trust them the most. This is called hiring an in-house SDR.

If you don’t want to hire a full-time employee, simply choose outsourcing. But if you think you are losing control over sales, hire your in-house salesperson. But that can cost you about $99,985 a year for one salesperson only.

This can be a helpful guide for VoIP and UCaaS companies because it will tell you how the costs, setup time and everything are different between these two options.

In-House SDR vs Outsourced Appointment Setting at a Glance

With an in-house SDR, you get more control over your sales team, while an outsourced appointment setting service lets you book qualified meetings without hiring an in-house salesperson.

If a company hires its own salesperson, it must pay the employee its salary and benefits. But the estimated cost does not include the money spent on work tools or hiring the employee. It is based on sales workers in the United States, which is given in the wage data.

Our cold calling pricing includes three plans. The Full-Time SDR plan costs $1,699 per month and provides 10–20 appointments. The Pipeline Starter plan costs $4,000 per month and provides 25–40 appointments. Lastly, the Revenue Accelerator plan costs $9,500 per month and is designed for larger sales campaigns.

These prices are estimates. The company may spend more to get good results because some potential customers may not attend the meetings. So, it’s important for companies to check how many meetings bring genuine buyers, especially for telecom services like VoIP and UCaaS.

What Does an In-House Telecom SDR Really Cost?

An in-house telecom SDR costs around $69,990 to $160,000 a year as per Thinkable Group,  Talento and CallingAgency. This is more than their salary alone, including benefits, payroll taxes and management expenses.

For example, imagine your company sells business phone and internet services. You hire one salesperson to contact businesses and arrange meetings. That one employee costs your company about $99,985 per year for their salary and employee benefits.

According to O*NET’s 2025 wage data, sales representatives earn a middle-range annual salary of $69,990, including commission. This salary information covers sales representatives in general, not just SDRs. SDRs are not listed separately in the data.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that employee benefits make up 30% of the total money employers spend on both salaries and benefits. These benefits can include health insurance and retirement benefits.

Sales and office jobs have a slightly lower benefits share of 28.5%. Your actual cost will also depend on the employee’s salary, commission, and work location. You also need to pay for recruiting and training, sales tools, and manager time or lost selling time.

What Does Outsourced Telecom Appointment Setting Cost?

Appointment setting for telecom providers can cost about $1,699–$9,500 per month, depending on CallingAgency’s plan and number of appointments included.

For example, imagine you sell internet and phone services to businesses. You pay CallingAgency to contact other businesses and arrange meetings with people who might want to buy your services.

According to CallingAgency’s pricing page, its three plans cost between $1,699 and $9,500 per month. The price depends on which plan you choose.

Which Option Costs Less Per Meeting?

Hiring your own salesperson costs about $8,332 per month for salary and employee benefits alone. You must pay this amount even if the salesperson arranges only a few meetings. For businesses comparing telecom lead generation costs, outsourcing can be more affordable because you pay a company to arrange qualified meetings for a lower monthly fee.

To calculate the cost per meeting, divide the monthly cost of the salesperson by the number of meetings. For example, if your salesperson costs $8,332 per month and he arranged 15 meetings, the cost will be:

$8,332 ÷ 15 = approximately $555 per meeting.

But if the same salesperson arranges 30 meetings, the cost will be:

$8,332 ÷ 30 = approximately $278 per meeting.

Now let’s compare costs by hiring your own salesperson versus paying CallingAgency.

Let’s say your company needs 15 sales meetings every month. If you hire your own salesperson, you spend $8,332 per month. But if you choose CallingAgency’s Full-Time SDR plan, you spend $1,699 per month. So, you save $6,633 every month by choosing the outsourced plan. Over 12 months, you save $79,596. The second example works the same way.

Compare These 3 Numbers

When choosing between the two options, don’t look only at how many meetings are arranged. Check these three things:

• Cost per held meeting: It says how much money you spend on each meeting that actually takes place.
• Show rate: It shows the percentage of booked meetings that actually happen.
• Qualified-opportunity rate: The percentage of meetings that happen and lead to potential sales.

If we see CallingAgency’s example, the CallingAgency’s Orlando Telecom campaign, the company arranged 106 appointments and identified more than 72 qualified sales opportunities over eight months. However, the case study does not provide enough cost information to calculate how much each attended meeting cost.

Which Option Books Telecom Meetings Faster?

Outsourcing can book telecom meetings faster. The company you hire already has salespeople and the tools they need. If you hire your own salesperson, you have to first find the right person and prepare them for the job. So, it takes a lot of time.

Before your own salesperson can start arranging meetings, you need to hire and train them. And when you outsource the work, you do not need to hire your own salesperson. However, you still need to explain your services to the provider before they begin contacting customers.

If we look at CallingAgency’s lead generation page, its telecom campaign booked 106 sales meetings over eight months using phone calls, emails, and LinkedIn messages. The team made more than 3,500 calls and booked around 13-14 meetings per month. These are results from one campaign. They do not guarantee that every company will get the same results.

What You Hand Over When You Outsource

When outsourcing, share your target customers, telecom decision-makers, pricing rules, and calendar access with the provider. Do the same even if you hire your own salesperson (in-house SDR) for the job. At the beginning, discuss all these points with them. In the first week, listen to some recorded sales calls they made. Check if they are speaking to potential customers correctly.

You should also agree on who is responsible for the sales scripts, call recordings, etc. But make sure you do everything following the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule. But if calls are made from one business to another, they may be free from following many of this rule’s requirements. But some restrictions still apply, and other laws may also apply.

When an In-House Telecom Outbound Sales Team Wins

An in-house team works best when you have enough prospects and can afford to hire your own sales reps. You also need a well-researched prospect list of businesses that fit your target market.  But remember, it can cost you about $99,985 per year for salary and employee benefits. And for software and management, the cost can be more. At this cost, your salesperson needs to arrange around 53 appointments per month to bring the average cost below $160 per appointment.

This is a financial target. It tells you how many appointments the salesperson needs to arrange to keep the cost low. It does not mean that most salespeople can actually arrange 53 appointments every month.

According to The Bridge Group’s 2025 report, you have more control over your sales team when you hire an in-house SDR. You can decide which businesses they contact and what they say to customers.

Decision Checklist

Before you decide to hire your own sales team, answer these questions first:

• Can one rep book about 53 qualified appointments a month?
• Do you have someone to hire, train, and manage reps?
• Does your product or pricing change often?
• Can you afford $99,985 a year per rep, plus other costs?
• Do you have enough businesses to contact?
• Can your sales team attend meetings and follow up?

If most of your answers are yes, hire your own sales team. But if most of your answers are no, consider outsourcing first.

When a Hybrid Model Makes Sense

A hybrid model works best when your in-house team manages existing customers and an outsourced team contacts new prospects. For example, imagine your company sells business phone services. Your own salesperson contacts existing customers to help them continue using your service. The outside company contacts new businesses that might want to buy your service.

Here, each team has a different list of businesses to contact. Hence, both teams can hardly call the same business.

Both teams should use the same CRM system to store information. Besides, they should also follow the same rules to decide if the business is suitable for a sales meeting, just like hybrid sales teams do.

Let’s say you book 20 meetings, but only 15 take place. Your show rate is 75%.

Then there is the qualified-opportunity rate. It is the percentage of meetings that happen and lead to genuine potential sales. If 10 meetings take place and 4 businesses need your service, your qualified-opportunity rate is 40%.

You must check how many potential customers receive a price offer from your company and how many actually buy your service. It’s because getting more meetings does not automatically mean getting more sales. Your team must have enough time to contact customers after the meetings.

This means you spend approximately $120,373 per year to keep your own salesperson. Remember, this total does not include extra costs such as software and management.

A hybrid model works best when you want to find more new customers but also want your own salesperson to look after existing customers. But if your salespeople already have too many meetings and cannot follow up with everyone, adding more meetings may create more work. So, keep your own salesperson to manage existing customers. And use an outside company to find new customers.

Conclusion

If you want more control over sales, choose an in-house SDR. But if you don’t want to hire a full-time employee, choose outsourced appointment setting.

But if you think both options are best, choose both. One can manage your existing customers and the other can find new customers. But before choosing one option or both options, compare their costs first. Then see whether they actually turn the meetings into sales.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does an in-house SDR cost a telecom company?

An in-house SDR can cost a telecom company about $99,985 per year, including salary and benefits. It can also include the cost of software, hiring, and management. But as per the U.S. sales salary data from BLS, costs may vary by location.

How much does an outsourced appointment setting cost?

An outsourced appointment setting cost is different for different service plans. For example, CallingAgency offers three plans. Its Full-Time SDR costs $1,699 per month for 10-20 appointments. Its pipeline Starter costs $4,000 per month for 25-40 appointments. And its Revenue Accelerator costs $9,500 per month.

Can an outsourced team sell UCaaS or VoIP?

Yes, an outsourced team can sell UCaaS or VoIP. But you must teach the team about your services first. Also, give them access to your meeting calendar. And don’t forget to review their calls to check whether they explain your services correctly.

Is pay per appointment better than a monthly plan?

Neither pay per appointment nor a monthly plan is always a better option. With pay-per-appointment, you have to pay for each meeting booked. And in the monthly plan, you have to pay a fixed amount each month. So, compare how much you pay for meetings that actually happen. Then choose one that fits your budget.