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Ask PEMS

Ask PEMS is the assistant in WS.PEMS. Use it to ask questions about your emissions data in plain language. The assistant reads the data for you and answers with text, tables and charts.

Ask PEMS is part of the chat module. If you do not see the Ask PEMS button, ask your administrator to turn on the module.

What you can ask​

The assistant reads the same data that you can see in the application. You can ask it to:

  • Give the status of your fleet, a facility or one emission source.
  • Find and explain active alarms, and show the measured data around an alarm.
  • Compare the performance of emission sources.
  • Plot measured and calculated values over a period, and point out unusual changes.
  • Find tags and explain what a tag measures.
  • List measurement datasets and calibrations.
  • Make an emissions report from a report template.
  • Explain a report that you have open.
  • Propose a change to a report template.

Examples:

  • "How is the fleet doing today?"
  • "Investigate active alarms."
  • "Compare the latest period with the previous period."
  • "Show the biggest recent emissions changes."
  • "Help me prepare an emissions report."

Ask a question​

  1. Click Ask PEMS in the bottom right corner of the page.
  2. Click a suggestion, or type your question in the message box.
  3. Press Enter to send. Press Shift+Enter to start a new line.
  4. Read the answer as it arrives. To stop the answer, click Stop generating.
  5. To continue, type a follow-up question in the Reply box.

The suggestions change with the page that you have open. On a process view, for example, the assistant offers to examine that emission source.

Give clear questions​

  • Use the names that the application shows: the facility, the emission source, the report template.
  • Give a period, for example "last week" or "1 to 7 March".
  • Ask for one thing at a time. Then ask a follow-up question.
  • If the assistant finds more than one match for a name, it asks you to select one.

Use the page context​

When you open the assistant from a page, it can use what that page shows. The Conversation context bar above the conversation shows what the assistant took from the page, marked From this page. For a report, it shows Captured report.

To ask about a report that you have open, click Ask about this report on the report. The assistant gets a copy of the report results and explains them.

Work with the answers​

  • Tables: download a table as CSV or Excel.
  • Charts: the assistant draws charts from the data that it reads.
  • Data Explorer queries: on the Data Explorer page, the assistant can fill in a query for you. Click Show query to see it. You can undo the change.
  • Report template changes: the assistant shows a proposal with the changes. It does not save the proposal. Click Review on template page to open the template, then save the change yourself.

Arrange the panel and find old conversations​

Use the panel menu to dock the assistant to the side of the page, to make it full size, or to make it a floating panel again. Press Escape to close the panel. Your conversation stays open behind the Ask PEMS button.

The application saves your conversations. To find an old conversation, open History and search for it. You can start a new chat, rename a conversation or delete it. History shows only your own conversations.

What the assistant cannot do​

  • It cannot change your measured data, your models or your configuration.
  • It cannot save a change to a report template. It only proposes the change.
  • It cannot see data that your role and your region do not give you access to.
  • It does not calculate regulated values itself. The numbers in its answers come from the data and the report engine of WS.PEMS.
  • It can misunderstand a question. Check an important answer against the source page before you use it in a report or a decision.

How your data is handled​

  • The assistant reads data with your access rights. It can see only the data that your role and your regions give you access to.
  • Your conversations are stored in the WS.PEMS database. They are linked to your user and your region.
  • To write its answers, the assistant sends your question and the data that it reads to an external AI provider. Your administrator selects the provider and the model on the AI Assistant page in Settings.
  • The application never shows the full provider API key in the browser.

If your organisation has rules about which data can go to an external AI provider, speak to your administrator before you turn on the chat module.