Airtable to telli, calls scheduled for every new lead
New leads show up in Airtable, and then… nothing. Or worse, someone remembers two days later, scrambles to copy fields into another tool, and the follow-up call goes out after the lead has cooled off.
This Airtable telli automation hits sales ops first, but founders and marketing teams feel it too. The outcome is simple: every new Airtable lead becomes a telli contact and gets an AI call scheduled automatically, so outreach starts while intent is still fresh.
Below you’ll see how the workflow runs, what it replaces in your day-to-day process, and what to watch for when you turn it on.
How This Automation Works
The full n8n workflow, from trigger to final output:
n8n Workflow Template: Airtable to telli, calls scheduled for every new lead
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The Problem: New leads don’t get called fast enough
If Airtable is where leads land, it often becomes where they sit. Someone has to notice the new row, verify the phone number, create the contact in your calling tool, and then schedule the call with the right agent and message. That sounds “quick” until you do it 30 times in a week. And it’s mentally expensive. Every manual step is a chance to skip a field, paste the wrong number, or forget to schedule the call entirely. Meanwhile, the best leads are time-sensitive, and slow follow-up quietly kills conversion.
The friction compounds. Here’s where it breaks down in real life.
- Airtable gets updated, but your calling system never hears about it unless a human pushes the data across.
- Phone numbers arrive in inconsistent formats, which leads to failed call attempts and “bad lead” labels that aren’t actually true.
- Scheduling the call depends on someone picking the right agent, message, and timing, and those choices vary by person.
- When volume spikes, follow-ups slip first because the process is repetitive and easy to postpone.
The Solution: Airtable leads automatically create telli contacts and schedule AI calls
This workflow connects Airtable (your lightweight CRM) with telli (your AI voice-agent calling platform) using n8n as the bridge. The moment a new lead appears in Airtable, n8n grabs the contact details you care about, creates the contact in telli, and immediately schedules an AI voice-agent call. No “export CSV.” No double entry. Just a consistent, always-on handoff from lead capture to outreach. If you want to add logic later (only call certain sources, only call during business hours, route by country), n8n is built for that kind of control without turning your CRM into a mess.
The workflow starts with an Airtable Watch Trigger, so it reacts in near real time when a record is created. Then telli receives the new contact and returns a contact ID, which n8n uses to schedule the actual call with your chosen agent and call script. Finally, your workflow can respond cleanly (for example, returning a confirmation via webhook if you’re running it behind a form).
What You Get: Automation vs. Results
| What This Workflow Automates | Results You’ll Get |
|---|---|
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Example: What This Looks Like
Say you add 20 new leads a day into Airtable from forms and outbound lists. Manually, creating a contact in telli (copying name, phone, email, timezone) takes maybe 5 minutes, and scheduling the call takes another 2 minutes, so that’s about 2.5 hours daily. With this workflow, the “human time” is basically the time it takes to enter the lead once (or let it land via your form), then n8n handles the rest in the background. You get the same day back, and the call queue stays current.
What You’ll Need
- n8n instance (try n8n Cloud free)
- Self-hosting option if you prefer (Hostinger works well)
- Airtable to store new leads in a table.
- telli to create contacts and schedule AI calls.
- telli API key (get it from telli Settings → API/Webhooks).
Skill level: Beginner. You will connect accounts, map a few fields, and test one sample lead.
Don’t want to set this up yourself? Talk to an automation expert (free 15-minute consultation).
How It Works
Airtable triggers on a new lead. When a record is created in your chosen Airtable table, the workflow wakes up right away and pulls the lead fields you mapped (name, phone, email, and anything else you store).
Contact details get prepared for telli. n8n formats the data into what telli expects, so the external contact ID, phone number, and timezone land in the right places. This is the part that prevents messy “almost the same” duplicates later.
telli creates the contact, then schedules the call. First, telli receives the “add contact” request. Once that’s successful, the workflow uses the returned contact ID to queue a call with your AI voice agent and your call details (message and any questions you want the agent to ask).
You get a clean confirmation path. If you run this behind a webhook or a lead intake process, the workflow can respond back once the contact is created and the call is scheduled, so other systems know it worked.
You can easily modify which Airtable records trigger calls (for example, only “Qualified = Yes”) to match your process. See the full implementation guide below for customization options.
Step-by-Step Implementation Guide
Step 1: Configure the Airtable Trigger
Set up Airtable Watch Trigger to monitor new records in your Airtable base and start the workflow.
- Add Airtable Watch Trigger as the trigger node.
- Set Base to
appjsUaPrbH6ph7cBand Table totblVXEWTj7dErmNsa. - Set Trigger Field to
=Created Time. - Set Polling to
everyMinute. - Credential Required: Connect your airtableTokenApi credentials.
Step 2: Connect Telli to Create Contacts
Use Create Contact Record to create a Telli contact based on the Airtable record.
- Add Create Contact Record after Airtable Watch Trigger.
- Set Operation to
add-contact. - Map the fields you need (e.g., first_name, last_name, phone_number, email) from the Airtable trigger output.
- Credential Required: Connect your telliApi credentials.
Step 3: Configure the Call Scheduling Action
Schedule the voice call in Telli with Arrange Voice Call using the contact created in the previous step.
- Add Arrange Voice Call connected to Create Contact Record.
- Set Operation to
schedule-telli-call. - Set Contact ID to
={{ $json.contact_id }}. - Fill in agent_id, call_details, max_retry_days, and override_from_number as needed for your call setup.
- Credential Required: Connect your telliApi credentials.
Execution Flow: Airtable Watch Trigger → Create Contact Record → Arrange Voice Call.
Step 4: Test and Activate Your Workflow
Run a test to confirm contacts are created in Telli and calls are scheduled correctly.
- Click Execute Workflow and add a new record in Airtable to trigger the workflow.
- Verify Create Contact Record returns a valid
contact_id. - Confirm Arrange Voice Call schedules the call in Telli using the returned contact ID.
- Switch the workflow to Active to enable continuous polling.
Common Gotchas
- telli credentials can expire or need specific permissions. If things break, check telli Settings → API/Webhooks first.
- If you’re using Wait nodes or external rendering, processing times vary. Bump up the wait duration if downstream nodes fail on empty responses.
- Default prompts in AI nodes are generic. Add your brand voice early or you’ll be editing outputs forever.
Frequently Asked Questions
About 30 minutes if your Airtable base and telli account are ready.
No. You’ll mostly connect accounts and map fields between Airtable and telli.
Yes. n8n has a free self-hosted option and a free trial on n8n Cloud. Cloud plans start at $20/month for higher volume. You’ll also need to factor in telli API usage based on your call volume, plus any OpenAI usage if you extend the workflow with AI steps.
Two options: n8n Cloud (managed, easiest setup) or self-hosting on a VPS. For self-hosting, Hostinger VPS is affordable and handles n8n well. Self-hosting gives you unlimited executions but requires basic server management.
Yes, and it’s a common tweak. Add an If check after the Airtable trigger so only records where your field like “Qualified” or “Lifecycle stage” matches the value you want continue to telli. You can also route different stages to different telli agents by adding a simple switch and changing the agent ID used when scheduling the call.
Usually it’s an expired or incorrect API key copied from telli Settings → API/Webhooks. Update the credential in n8n and retry one test lead. If the key is correct, check that your payload includes the required fields (phone number is the usual culprit) and that the agent ID you’re scheduling against actually exists in your telli workspace.
A lot, as long as your n8n plan and telli limits match your volume. On n8n Cloud’s entry plans you’re typically fine for small teams, but high-volume lead gen can push you into a bigger tier. If you self-host, there’s no execution cap from n8n itself, so the real constraints become your server size, Airtable rate limits, and telli’s API and calling throughput. Practically, most teams start with dozens or a few hundred leads per day and scale from there after monitoring failures and retries.
Often, yes, if you care about control and cost at scale. n8n handles branching logic and “only call when X is true” rules without turning every small condition into another paid step. You can also self-host, which is useful when you want unlimited runs and tighter control over data. Zapier or Make can still be fine for a basic two-step sync, but voice calling workflows tend to grow extra rules fast. Talk to an automation expert if you want a quick recommendation for your exact stack.
Once this is live, new leads don’t wait for someone to “get to it.” The workflow handles the repetitive handoff, and your team can focus on the conversations that actually move revenue.
Need Help Setting This Up?
Our automation experts can build and customize this workflow for your specific needs. Free 15-minute consultation—no commitment required.
