diff --git a/lib/tasks/cognigy/index.js b/lib/tasks/cognigy/index.js
index 906fd715..7718f1d8 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/cognigy/index.js
+++ b/lib/tasks/cognigy/index.js
@@ -52,6 +52,10 @@ class Cognigy extends Task {
     // create a task queue so we can execute our taskss subsequently
     // also executing tasks whenever they come in
     this.taskQueue = queue({concurrency: 1, autostart: 1});
+
+    // keep track of turns so we only do gather once per turn
+    this.turn = 0;
+    this.gatherTurn = 0;
   }
 
   get name() { return TaskName.Cognigy; }
@@ -177,7 +181,7 @@ class Cognigy extends Task {
   }
 
   _makeGatherTask({textPrompt, urlPrompt, turnConfig} = {}) {
-    this.logger.debug({textPrompt, urlPrompt, turnConfig}, "_makeGatherTask");
+    this.logger.debug({textPrompt, urlPrompt, turnConfig}, '_makeGatherTask');
     const config = this.config.makeGatherTaskConfig({textPrompt, urlPrompt, turnConfig});
     const {retry, ...rest} = config;
     this.retry = retry;
@@ -239,12 +243,16 @@ class Cognigy extends Task {
   async _onBotFinalPing(cs, ep) {
     this.logger.info({prompts: this.prompts}, 'Cognigy:_onBotFinalPing');
     try {
-      if (!this.gatherTaskExists) {
+      // count up the turn counter
+      this.turn += 1;
+      if (this.turn > this.gatherTurn) {
+        // we never have create a gather in the current turn and only played so lets listen to customer input
+        // after we have played everything
+        this.gatherTurn = this.turn;
         await this.taskQueue.lastPromise;
         this.gatherTask = this._makeGatherTask();
-        this.gatherTask.exec(cs, ep, this)
-          .catch((err) => this.logger.info({err}, 'Cognigy gather task returned error'));
-        this.prompts = [];
+          this.gatherTask.exec(cs, ep, this)
+            .catch((err) => this.logger.info({err}, 'Cognigy gather task returned error'));       
       } else {
         this.logger.info({}, 'no need to create a gather task, it already exists!');
       }
@@ -273,62 +281,60 @@ class Cognigy extends Task {
     }
 
     const text = parseBotText(evt);
-    if (evt.data && evt.data.config && evt.data.config.session) this.config.update(evt.data.config.session);
+    if (evt?.data?.config?.session) this.config.update(evt.data.config.session);
 
     // only add say task if its a normal cognigy node and not a "gather task"
-    if (text && (!evt.data || !evt.data.type || !evt.data.type !== 'gather')) {
+    if (text && (evt?.data?.type !== 'gather')) {
+      this.logger.info({text}, 'received text');
       this._enqueueTask(async() => {
-        this.logger.info({text}, 'received text');
+        // todo inject the session config into the say task
         const sayTask = this._makeSayTask(text);
         await sayTask.exec(cs, ep, this);
       });
     }
 
 
-    if (evt && evt.data && evt.data.type) {
-      try {
-        switch (evt.data.type) {
-          case 'hangup':
-            this._enqueueTask(async() => {
-              this.performAction({cognigyResult: 'hangup Succeeded'});
-              this.reportedFinalAction = true;
-              cs.replaceApplication([this._makeHangupTask(evt.data.reason)]);
-              this.taskQueue.end();
-            });
+    try {
+      switch (evt?.data?.type) {
+        case 'hangup':
+          this._enqueueTask(async() => {
+            this.performAction({cognigyResult: 'hangup Succeeded'});
+            this.reportedFinalAction = true;
+            cs.replaceApplication([this._makeHangupTask(evt.data.reason)]);
+            this.taskQueue.end();
+          });
 
-            return;
-          case 'refer':
-            this._enqueueTask(async() => {
-              this.performAction({cognigyResult: 'refer succeeded'});
-              this.reportedFinalAction = true;
-              cs.replaceApplication([this._makeReferTask(evt.data.referTo)]);
+          return;
+        case 'refer':
+          this._enqueueTask(async() => {
+            this.performAction({cognigyResult: 'refer succeeded'});
+            this.reportedFinalAction = true;
+            cs.replaceApplication([this._makeReferTask(evt.data.referTo)]);
+          });
+          return;
+        case 'gather':
+          this.gatherTurn += 1;
+          this._enqueueTask(async() => {
+            this.gatherTask = this._makeGatherTask({
+              textPrompt: evt.data.text,
+              urlPrompt: evt.data.url,
+              turnConfig: evt?.data?.config?.nextTurn
             });
-            return;
-          case 'gather':
-            this.gatherTaskExists = true;
-            this._enqueueTask(async() => {
-              this.gatherTask = this._makeGatherTask({
-                textPrompt: evt.data.text,
-                urlPrompt: evt.data.url,
-                turnConfig: evt.data.config && evt.data.config.nextTurn
-              });
-              try {
-                this.gatherTask.exec(cs, ep, this);
-              } catch (err) {
-                this.logger.info({err}, 'Cognigy gather task returned error');
-              }
-              this.gatherTaskExists = false;
-            });
-            return;
-          default:
-            break;
-        }
-      } catch (err) {
-        this.logger.info({err, evtData: evt.data}, 'encountered error parsing cognigy response data');
-        if (!this.hasReportedFinalAction) this.performAction({cognigyResult: 'error', err});
-        this.reportedFinalAction = true;
-        this.notifyTaskDone();
+            try {
+              this.gatherTask.exec(cs, ep, this);
+            } catch (err) {
+              this.logger.info({err}, 'Cognigy gather task returned error');
+            }
+          });
+          return;
+        default:
+          break;
       }
+    } catch (err) {
+      this.logger.info({err, evtData: evt.data}, 'encountered error parsing cognigy response data');
+      if (!this.hasReportedFinalAction) this.performAction({cognigyResult: 'error', err});
+      this.reportedFinalAction = true;
+      this.notifyTaskDone();
     }
   }