A context window is the maximum amount of text a language model can process at once, including both the conversation history and system instructions. It determines how much information the AI can consider when generating responses.
How does context window affect voice agents?
Every turn of conversation adds to the context. System prompts, tool definitions, previous exchanges, and retrieved information all consume space in the context window. For long conversations, older content may need to be summarized or dropped to make room for new information.
Why does context window matter?
Limited context means the AI may lose track of information from earlier in a conversation. This can cause it to ask questions already answered or forget commitments made. Larger context windows support longer, more coherent conversations but require more computational resources.
Context window in practice
A customer calls about a complex insurance claim, and the conversation extends to 30 minutes with many details discussed. The AI agent uses context management strategies: summarizing earlier portions of the call, prioritizing recent exchanges, and maintaining key facts explicitly. This preserves important information even as the conversation exceeds the raw context window size.