Meeting Request
A Meeting Request in Salesforce is the action that sends a calendar invitation to one or more attendees, proposes a meeting time, and tracks the responses (Accepted, Declined, Tentative).
Definition
A Meeting Request in Salesforce is the action that sends a calendar invitation to one or more attendees, proposes a meeting time, and tracks the responses (Accepted, Declined, Tentative). The action lives across several Salesforce surfaces: the Outlook and Gmail Integration add-ins (Schedule a Meeting from inside a Salesforce-linked email), Salesforce Inbox (Insert Availability to propose times), Salesforce Scheduler (full appointment booking via Lightning components), and the older Salesforce Classic Meeting Request feature (legacy, not recommended).
Modern Salesforce meeting workflows live primarily in Salesforce Inbox plus the Gmail and Outlook Integrations. A sales rep replying to a prospect''s email clicks Insert Availability, the integration shows the rep''s calendar, the rep picks proposed times, the email goes out with selectable slots, and the prospect''s click creates a calendar event back in the rep''s Salesforce-synced calendar. The pattern eliminates the back-and-forth and integrates the meeting into the Salesforce activity timeline automatically.
Meeting Request workflows across modern Salesforce
Salesforce Inbox Insert Availability
Salesforce Inbox (the productivity add-on inside the Gmail and Outlook Integrations) provides the Insert Availability feature. The rep clicks Insert Availability in their email reply; the integration shows the rep''s calendar from Google or Outlook; the rep picks proposed times; the email body inserts selectable slots; the prospect clicks one and the integration creates the matching calendar event. The workflow is the most-used meeting-request pattern in modern sales motion.
Salesforce Scheduler
Salesforce Scheduler is a separate product for structured appointment booking (think: financial advisor consultations, in-branch banking visits, healthcare appointments). Scheduler exposes Lightning components for customer-facing self-service: the customer picks the service, picks a time, picks a location, and the platform books the appointment. The feature is licensed separately from Sales Cloud.
Salesforce Classic Meeting Request
Salesforce Classic shipped a legacy Meeting Request feature where users sent calendar invitations via Salesforce. The feature was clunky, required users to be on Salesforce Classic, and was retired in favor of the modern Inbox-based workflow. Inherited orgs may still have references to it; treat them as historical.
Calendar sync via Einstein Activity Capture
The meeting events created by Insert Availability or Scheduler sync to Salesforce via Einstein Activity Capture or Lightning Sync. The event appears on the relevant Salesforce records (Account, Contact, Lead, Opportunity) in the Activity Timeline, with the attendee list, time, and meeting subject visible to the team.
Group event coordination
Beyond one-on-one meetings, the integrations support group meeting requests. The rep proposes times across multiple attendees, the integration finds slots where everyone is free, and the email lists the available options. The feature scales to small groups (typically up to 10 attendees) before performance and inbox-rendering issues kick in.
Salesforce Calendar and the Events object
Salesforce stores meeting events on the Event standard object with related-record links (WhoId, WhatId). The integration creates the Event automatically when the meeting is confirmed. Reports on Event surface meeting volume, attendee counts, and per-rep meeting cadence; useful for sales-operations and pipeline-velocity analysis.
Integration with marketing-driven follow-up
Marketing Cloud Engagement and Pardot can use the meeting-event data to trigger follow-up communications. Common pattern: meeting booked, automated pre-meeting email goes out two hours before with a calendar reminder and any pre-read; post-meeting survey goes out 24 hours after. The closed loop between meeting booking and marketing follow-up is a modern sales-engagement pattern.
Send a meeting request from Salesforce Inbox
The modern workflow runs inside the Gmail or Outlook integration with Salesforce Inbox licensing. Setup happens once per org; usage is one-click per email.
- Confirm Inbox licensing
Salesforce Inbox is a paid add-on. Confirm contract terms and ensure target users have the license assigned.
- Install the Gmail or Outlook Integration
Coordinate with the user to install the Chrome extension and Google add-on, or the Outlook add-in.
- Connect Einstein Activity Capture
EAC syncs the user''s calendar with Salesforce. Without it, Insert Availability cannot read the calendar.
- Reply to an email in Gmail or Outlook
Click Insert Availability in the Salesforce sidebar. The calendar opens; pick proposed times.
- Send the email
The email body includes the time slots as clickable options. The prospect clicks a slot; the integration creates the calendar event.
- Verify the event in Salesforce
The Event record appears on the related Salesforce records via the Activity Timeline. Verify the link is correct.
Required per user for Insert Availability.
The host platform for the meeting workflow.
Calendar sync engine.
Google or Outlook calendar with available slots.
- Insert Availability requires Inbox licensing. The basic Gmail or Outlook Integration does not include it.
- Einstein Activity Capture must be configured. Without calendar sync, Insert Availability shows an empty calendar.
- The legacy Classic Meeting Request feature is retired. Modern workflows use Inbox or Scheduler.
- Group meeting requests scale to small groups. Beyond 10 attendees, performance and inbox-rendering issues appear.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Salesforce InboxSalesforce Help
- Salesforce SchedulerSalesforce Help
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Meeting Request.
- Einstein Activity CaptureSalesforce Help
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
Test your knowledge
Q1. What is a Meeting Request in Salesforce?
Q2. How do meeting requests sync with external calendars?
Q3. What's the value of meeting requests tied to records?
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