Is cold calling dead?
Some may argue that its effectiveness is dwindling, with many sales and business leaders expressing their criticism due to the low percentage of success rate it provides for its sales process.
With the success rate of 2.3% — so far this 2025 — does this mean appointment setters will no longer have to pick up the phone?
The role of an appointment setter is varied and significant, and cold calling is just one of its many responsibilities. But with the ongoing success rate of cold calling is it right to eliminate it in their process?
Here at AnyBiz, cold calling is a large part of our AI agent’s outreach process, and we understand the importance of this channel and how it can contribute to the success of your sales process.
And we understand more than anything else that cold calling is not some sales communication effort that should be buried deep beneath the chasms of the sales process, it evolved in a way that is imaginable and revolutionary especially with the incorporation of Artificial intelligence (AI) instituting faster, smarter and more efficient sales development.
And for appointment setters this is an opportunity to behold.
In this blog, we’ll explore the best AI cold calling tools designed specifically for appointment setters. Whether you’re an SDR at a startup, part of a high-volume call team, or running a solo outreach campaign, these tools help cut down the grunt work and maximize productive conversations.
Let’s dive into the AI-powered platforms that are transforming how cold calling is done in 2025.
Why Appointment Setters Need AI Cold Calling Tools
Cold calling is a battle whether it’s of wits, attrition or strength having the proper strategy, arsenal and people can help you surpass and navigate this crossfire.
One of those strategies? Hiring skilled appointment setters to qualify leads and book meetings.
Just as Roman legionnaires laid the groundwork for conquest, appointment setters clear the path for your sales team—creating momentum, building trust, and opening the door to real sales opportunities.
Their job is to qualify leads, book meetings, and warm up prospects for account executives or closers. However, the problem lies in their limitations.
Appointment setters often conduct manual cold calling, which presents a challenge on its own given the digitalization and implementation of various high technological systems. This creates problems such as:
1. High Volume, Low Success
What contributes — or what doesn’t contribute — to the low percentage of success rate of cold calling is its manual cold calling. Many calls may never connect or end in rejection due to the inefficient way the cold calling process is conducted, or the overall lack a
2. Repetitive scripts
Saying the same thing over and over again may warrant familiarity of the sentence and structure, but it can grow stale and boring. Appointment setters who read the same script over and over again may grow tired of it and inevitably may appear in their tone every time they are speaking with a potential client.
3. No insights
The lack of information, and analysis may be detrimental to the success of your cold calling journey. Appointment setters need to have a firm understanding of what strategies work, the overall potential of the product so they can present it properly during outreach.
4. Lack of personalization
The lack of content, personalization and engagement may feel robotic which is not ideal for prospects especially in the B2B landscape.
AI cold calling can resolve this, there is an ongoing debate on whether AI cold calling is better than human, that AI may lack in personalization and insights and can be repetitive.
AI have Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities which allows the AI to completely understand and interpret human language. In a way, this technology ensures that it doesn’t utter repetitive scripts, and although it will, chances are they can retain the same energy they presented during the initial call.
Ai cold calling tools can solve various problems with its automation and giving human appointment setters the ability to focus on other tasks.
Key Features of AI Cold Calling Tools
Before we explore the tools themselves, let’s take a look at what makes them powerful for appointment setters:
1. AI Phone Assistants
These virtual agents can make the initial outreach calls. They handle basic qualifications, follow a script, and can schedule meetings — all without human intervention.
2. Speech Recognition + Natural Language Processing (NLP)
AI tools can understand what prospects are saying and respond with context-aware dialogue. This keeps the conversation going naturally.
3. Intent Detection
Some AI platforms analyze tone, language, and sentiment to detect whether a prospect is interested, skeptical, or uninterested.
4. CRM Syncing and Data Enrichment
Automatic call logging, lead scoring, and enrichment make sure that no data is lost. Appointment setters see everything in one place.
5. Smart Scripts and Real-Time Coaching
Tools can provide dynamic scripts that adjust based on the flow of conversation or offer real-time coaching to live agents.
6. Call Analytics
Track response rates, objection patterns, and success metrics to refine your approach.
Best AI Cold Calling Tools for Appointment Setters in 2025
Here are the top AI tools appointment setters should consider in 2025:
1. AnyBiz.io
Best for: Overall Sales Process
AnyBiz has the most advanced features that not just develop your appointment setting process. And exercises the very definition and potential of AI in your sales process.
Features:
AI Sales Agent
The AI sales agent operates under the most advanced machine learning and Large Language Model (LLM) to ensure that it interacts with your prospects like an actual human being.
For appointment setters, AnyBiz can be considered as the Death Star of the sales process, offering immense power and intelligence that can transform your overall sales development and appointment setting workflow.
Contact Database and Multichannel Outreach
Anybiz has an impressive prospect database of over 400 million, which the AI sales agents utilize to engage during multichannel outreach of email, LinkedIn and AI cold calls. This database contains a group of contacts organized based on common characteristics, such as demographics, industry, role or behavior.
They represent target segments that the AI agent will engage during outreach.
Email: AnyBiz uses cold email automation, during initial outreach. The AI agent will use this channel to build up your prospects expectation, which makes it easier for your sales team to explain the features of your product without.
Then an AI email follow-up sequence will ensue, which will depend on your prospect’s engagement level, thanks to its segmentation process. The follow-up will include a customized landing page in the form of a personalized link that will help your prospects book a call.
AI Cold Calls: Once the prospect is confirmed to have high engagement rate, the AI sales agent can perform the appointment setter’s main task which is scheduling phone calls, enabling a more personalized touch and direct communication.
AI Dashboard for Monitoring the Agent’s Outreach Activities
You can monitor the activity of your AI agent through the AI dashboard and track the following:
- Total Outreach and Engagement
- Messages sent, including the initial outreach messages and follow-ups
- LinkedIn Engagement
- Presents how the agent interacts on LinkedIn, including connection requests, the messages the AI agent sent and profile views.
- Call Activities
- It can show whether attempts have been made, who answered and who ignored it.
- Social Media Engagement
- Besides on LinkedIn you can also track other social media engagement across different platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
2. Saleswhale (part of 6sense)
Best for: Automating initial outreach and qualification.
Highlights:
- AI agent sends and responds to emails but now offers phone support integration.
- Qualifies leads and hands off to human reps.
- Syncs with marketing and sales pipelines.
Why it works for appointment setters:
You can offload the top-of-funnel outreach and focus only on high-intent leads.
3. Xembly
Best for: Booking meetings and calendar management through AI.
Highlights:
- Voice assistant that can hold meetings, transcribe calls, and book appointments.
- Handles administrative follow-up.
Why it works for appointment setters:
Appointment setting often includes scheduling back-and-forth — Xembly can help you automate this.
4. Conversica
Best for: Companies looking for scalable AI conversations.
Highlights:
- AI assistant for email and phone.
- Knows when to pass a conversation to a human.
- Can handle objections and do follow-ups.
Why it works for appointment setters:
You get a digital teammate that keeps prospects engaged until they’re ready to talk.
5. Balto
Best for: Real-time coaching during live cold calls.
Highlights:
- Provides real-time suggestions based on what’s being said.
- Tracks objection handling, compliance, and sentiment.
- Improves rep confidence with dynamic scripting.
Why it works for appointment setters:
Balto is like having a manager whisper the perfect response in your ear during a tough call.
6. Tact.ai
Best for: Reps who want voice AI to do the busywork.
Highlights:
- Voice interface for logging notes, updating CRM, and setting follow-ups.
- Integrates with Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics.
Why it works for appointment setters:
Less time logging, more time dialing.
7. Air AI
Best for: Fully autonomous sales conversations by phone.
Highlights:
- AI voice agent that sounds nearly human.
- Can handle a 10-minute sales call.
- Integrates with CRMs and calendars.
Why it works for appointment setters:
It’s one of the most advanced AI phone caller available. Air AI can start and finish the call, book a meeting, and even answer questions like a human SDR.
Tips for Implementing AI in Cold Calling Workflows
Introducing AI into your outreach process requires more than just buying software. Here are a few key tips:
1. Start with Clear Objectives
Are you trying to qualify faster? Book more meetings? Cut costs? Define your KPIs first.
2. Train and Monitor
Even the best AI needs guidance. Train it with scripts, data, and best practices. Monitor performance for quality.
3. Integrate with CRM
Ensure your AI tool syncs with your CRM to avoid data silos. Tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zoho work best with integrations.
4. Maintaining Human Touch
Use AI to warm up leads, but don’t replace the human entirely. Appointment setters shine in nuanced, high-value conversations.
5. Iterate Based on Data
AI tools give you analytics — use them. Improve scripts, refine targeting, and double down on what works.
The Potential Future of Appointment Setting with AI
The rise of AI in cold calling doesn’t mean human reps are going away. Instead, AI is here to amplify their efforts. Appointment setters can now:
- Delegate the first outreach to AI phone assistants.
Get real-time feedback and live coaching. - Personalize pitches based on personality insights.
- Spend more time on high-quality conversations.
Think of AI cold calling tools as co-pilots — not replacements.
More Meetings with Lesser Stress
If you’re tired of endless dials with little return, it’s time to modernize your approach. AI cold calling tools are the secret weapon appointment setters need in 2025. Whether it’s using voice bots to prequalify leads or getting real-time objection handling advice, these tools are designed to save time, reduce burnout, and improve booking rates.
Explore a few from the list above, run small tests, and see which one fits your team. Once AI is fully embedded into your outreach workflow, you’ll spend less time on the phone — and more time closing deals.
Experience AnyBiz today; trial starts at 0.99 USD, or book a demo and see how we can help.
