Without memory, an assistant starts from scratch in every conversation: a customer who has already explained their needs has to repeat everything. Contact memory keeps useful information each recognised person has shared: a project, a preference, some context.
A concrete example
Julie writes to a furniture retailer’s assistant: she wants an oak table for six people and prefers to be called back on Saturdays. She agrees to the assistant remembering this. Three weeks later, she returns to ask whether the Oslo table comes in 220 cm: the assistant already knows what she wants and when to contact her, and so does the salesperson who takes over the conversation.
What the GDPR requires
This type of memory processes personal data, and the GDPR sets the rules. It relies on a lawful basis, most often the person’s consent, sometimes legitimate interest in an existing customer relationship; it only keeps what is useful; it has a limited retention period, as required by Article 5 of the GDPR; and the person can request access to, rectification or erasure of their data (Articles 15, 16 and 17).
Good practices
- Every item has an origin. It is clear which conversation it came from and on what date
- Every item expires. Information that is no longer useful or accurate must be removed, and an expiry date enforces this
- The team stays in control. It approves, corrects or revokes what the assistant has remembered
- No sensitive data. Health, opinions, origin: Article 9 of the GDPR places strict conditions on these, and a customer service assistant has no need to remember them
Contact memory or CRM?
A CRM (customer relationship management system) is the team’s sales tool: tracking opportunities, quotes and follow-ups. Contact memory helps the assistant answer better next time. The two complement each other: a new contact can be sent to the CRM through a webhook, and memory adds to lead qualification.
In KernChat, every contact has a record containing their conversations and what the assistant has remembered about them, with their consent and for a set period (see the features).