> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tala-assistant.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Recent Call Memory

> When someone calls back the same day, your agent remembers what their previous call was about instead of starting from scratch

## Overview

Someone calls, gets an answer, then calls back an hour later. Without this, your
agent starts over: same questions, no trace of what was already said.

Recent Call Memory gives the agent, in its own notes, the reason for that
number's earlier calls and what was decided. If the caller comes back to their
request, the agent can pick up the thread instead of asking them to explain
everything again.

Nothing is uploaded and nothing has to be prepared: this works for a number you
have never seen before.

## What it does not do

The agent answers the phone exactly as usual. It does not announce that you
called before, it does not greet you by name, and it never claims to know who is
calling. A phone number identifies a line, not a person, and the agent is told
so explicitly.

It only uses what it remembers if the caller brings the subject up.

<Note>
  To recognize callers by name from a directory you maintain, that is a different
  feature: see [Known Contacts](/features/known-contacts).
</Note>

## Turning it on

The setting lives in your agent's **Settings**, under **Recent call memory**. It
is **off by default**, and you turn it on per agent.

## What the agent remembers

|                    |                                                               |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| How far back       | The last 24 hours, never more                                 |
| How many calls     | The last three calls from that number                         |
| What is kept       | The reason for each call and the follow-up that was suggested |
| What is never used | The recording, and the word-for-word transcript               |

Each organization only ever sees its own calls: the same number calling two
different Tala customers never carries anything from one to the other.

## When it does not apply

The memory stays silent, and your agent behaves exactly as it does today, in
each of these cases:

* the caller withholds their number
* the call arrives through the web widget or the chat rather than the phone
* your agent is the one placing the call
* more than a few calls came from that number in the same day (see below)

## If your calls go through a switchboard

This is the one case where you should leave the setting off.

If your calls reach Tala through a switchboard, or through a landline you
forward, every caller can arrive with the same number. Tala then has no way to
tell your callers apart, and the memory would be about the line rather than
about a person.

Tala protects you automatically: past a handful of calls from the same number in
a day, it stops using the memory for that number entirely. That safeguard is a
net, not a reason to turn the setting on in that situation.

## Data retention

Nothing new is stored. The memory is built from the calls already in your call
history, and it looks no further back than 24 hours. Deleting a call removes it
from the memory too.