Assist: Actions from Plain Language
Assist turns intent into action, staff say what they need, the system does it.
Everyday requests
Examples of plain-language instructions
Ask: Questions
Ask how to carry out a task in Protel Cloud PMS.
- 01How do I extend a guest’s check-out time?
- 02How do I send a payment link for a reservation?
Assist: Questions & tasks
Request information or ask the PMS to carry out an action.
- 01Extend check-out to 2 PM for room 304
- 02Send a pay by link for reservation 6011735316
- 03What VIP arrivals do I have today?
From request to result
Three steps. One connected workflow.
Staff Types Command
Plain-language instruction entered directly in Protel Cloud, no menus, no clicks, no training required.
- Fewer manual clicks
Assist Interprets Intent
AI understands context, maps the request to the correct PMS workflow, and proactively surfaces relevant information.
- No repetitive navigation
PMS Executes Action
Task is completed inside Protel Cloud, reducing manual clicks, repetitive navigation, and complex system logic.
- Governed & auditable actions
- Staff focused on guests
Ask & Assist: Questions & answers
Thank you very much for joining our webinar and for taking part in the Q&A. We received some great questions during the session, so we wanted to follow up by sharing the answers with everyone who submitted a question.
1.Can we see how AI can be used as part of PMS?
Ask&Assist is currently in a pilot phase, but we’ll be sharing more updates and details soon. We’re planning to expand the pilot significantly, so if you’re interested in becoming a pilot property, please reach out to us.
2.How does AI react if the PMS is not responding, for example if the server is offline? How is the integration with the PMS done, Protel for example? Where does the AI run, locally or remotely?
Ask&Assist is integrated directly into Protel Cloud PMS and works as part of the PMS, making use of the necessary data and services. If the PMS or required services are unavailable, AI actions that depend on that data cannot be completed.
3.Can we see how AI can be used as part of the PMS?
Yes. Ask&Assist is built directly into Protel Cloud PMS, so hotel teams can use AI without leaving the system they already work in. Ask provides guidance and relevant resources in natural language, while Assist uses PMS data and selected skills to support approved operational workflows.
Ask&Assist is currently being introduced progressively, with capabilities expanding in phases. We’ll be sharing more updates, practical examples and details as the rollout continues.
4.How are you maintaining an agentic layer between Housekeeping and room inventory to enable these actions without embedded tools, but using third-party vendors to keep up with the growing appetite for OpenAPI models in PMS?
Our goal is to build an open ecosystem. We see value in the PMS providing the operational context and remaining the system of record, while open APIs and integrations allow specialised third-party systems to work within our ecosystem.
Our longer-term goal is for an orchestration layer to understand context across those systems and, with the right permissions, coordinate actions between them. For example, a housekeeping event in a specialist third-party application could form part of a broader workflow involving room status or inventory in the PMS.
5.How much do you see AI as an opportunity for innovation versus a necessity to remain competitive against the larger chains?
Increasingly, it is both.
AI creates a significant opportunity to innovate by simplifying operations, reducing repetitive work and enabling more intuitive experiences for staff and guests. At the same time, it can help independent hotels and smaller groups achieve efficiencies that previously required considerably more resources.
The competitive advantage will ultimately come not simply from having AI, but from applying it effectively to real hotel workflows and connecting it to trusted operational data.
6.Can hoteliers use voice commands in Protel AI to manage communication and send information to other tools?
No, this functionality is not currently available in Ask&Assist. Today, Ask&Assist focuses on natural-language interaction within Protel Cloud PMS. Voice-enabled control and broader cross-system actions may represent future opportunities as the technology evolves, but they are not capabilities available today.
7.What are some of the most pressing workflows that you think Planet can solve by 2030, considering Grok bots and all these tools that keep coming up, particularly around agentic commerce?
Planet is uniquely positioned because we combine PMS, payments, commerce and guest-facing capabilities within the same ecosystem, creating richer context for AI-driven workflows than would be possible from any single system in isolation.
Looking towards 2030, we see hospitality moving towards outcome-based interactions rather than screen-based workflows, with several areas where AI has the potential to significantly transform hotel operations:
Operational efficiency: A lot of repetitive work in a hotel still involves data entry, navigating multiple screens, retrieving information, correcting common errors and reconciling information between systems. These are natural areas for AI-driven automation.
Data and context: Hotels have large amounts of guest and operational information, but that information is often fragmented across the PMS and specialised third-party systems. As the ecosystem becomes more connected, the goal is to bring that context together and make it actionable, rather than simply displaying more data.
Agentic commerce: Instead of a guest navigating a traditional booking journey, an AI agent could understand what they are looking for, identify the right hotel and product, personalise the offer during that crucial pre-stay phase, complete the reservation and ultimately facilitate payment through a conversational experience.
For Planet, having PMS and Payments within the same ecosystem gives us an interesting foundation for that journey.
8.Is Protel AI connected with other providers such as RMS, for example?
Today, Ask&Assist is embedded in Protel Cloud PMS and its current capabilities focus on PMS knowledge, PMS data and selected governed workflows. Protel Cloud already supports integrations with specialised third-party systems, including RMS providers, but AI-led orchestration across those external systems is part of the longer-term direction rather than a capability we should position as available today.
Our roadmap is moving towards agent-to-agent orchestration, where the PMS can work with connected systems and partner agents through open integrations. We’ll share more details as these capabilities develop.