Everything You Need To Know About Copilot And How It Can Help Your Business
Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 is an AI-powered productivity tool integrated into Microsoft 365 apps that you use every day, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and others. This integration provides real-time intelligent assistance, enabling users to enhance their creativity, productivity, and skills.
Copilot was released in November 2023 with much fanfare. However, many technology professionals and IT companies felt the launch went down like a lead balloon.
This was due to lack of access and requirement by Microsoft to have a minimum user count in the Microsoft 365 tenant of 300 which left many businesses unable to access the new Copilot product.
This has now changed, and Copilot is now available to businesses of all sizes. Built on Open AI’s ChatGPT technology, Copilot uses AI to make your workflow more efficient in the Microsoft 365 suite of products.
Killer Features of Microsoft Copilot for Teams
Do you find it hard to use Microsoft Teams to take notes, keep track of tasks, and summarize meetings? You are not the only one if that's the case.
Keeping up with meetings and doing a lot of different jobs is hard for a lot of small business owners and managers. Well, we're happy to welcome you to Copilot, a brand-new AI tool that can help you get more done in your Microsoft Teams meetings.
Copilot is a smart AI helper that can answer your questions about meetings in everyday language.
You can ask Copilot to make a table with the names of the people who attended and what their roles were, as well as a summary of the meeting's goal, a list of the choices and actions taken, and a lot more.
Copilot can also make a table with a summary of the meeting and a list of tasks and who is responsible for them. This makes it easy to copy and paste the table into an email or document.
One of the best things you can do is use Copilot to go over what was talked about and what needs to be done next after the meeting.
You can focus on being present and interested in the meeting this way, and then let Copilot help you with the follow-up.
Copilot can also help you catch up on a meeting you missed (or arrived late) by outlining the main action points and results.
Some additional perks with Microsoft Teams' Copilot:
Natural language processing driven by AI - Copilot can understand your natural language questions and commands and give you answers and actions that are relevant and correct.
Self customizing - Copilot changes how it responds and acts based on your past meetings and preferences.
Access is quick and easy because Copilot is built into Microsoft Teams. This means you can use it from any computer or device. To talk to Copilot, you can also use voice or text, based on what works best for you.
All of this is why Copilot is so important for small businesses that want to get the most out of their Microsoft Teams meetings. It can save you time, cut down on mistakes, and make working together and talking to each other better.
Using Copilot for Everyday Productivity - Beyond Microsoft Teams
Have you ever wanted a personal assistant but don’t have the budget? Or maybe you’ve got a limited knowledge of Microsoft Excel and must pull out key metrics but don’t have the time to learn all the features?
Copilot works in following suite of Microsoft 365 products:
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Word
Microsoft PowerPoint
In addition to these products Copilot can be accessed via a ChatGPT style interface in Microsoft 365 Chat and from a side bar when logged into Microsoft Edge.
Here are a few examples of some of the most useful features specifically for high level work of CEO’s and business owners.
Copilot for Excel: Allows you take ask questions of the data within an excel file in natural language. Don’t know how to create a pivot table? Don’t worry just ask Copilot to create a pivot table and a relevant chat that can make the data come to life. While still in preview, Copilot in Excel shows promise in analysing and interpreting data, offering insights and summaries that could be invaluable in data-heavy environments.
Copilot for Outlook: Hhave you been on vacation and stopped reading those long email chains? Coming back into the office on Monday morning you Copilot will read a multi part email chain and summarise the key points so you don’t have to. Copilot also helps draft emails with options to customize tone and length. It's a time-saver, especially when you're aiming for a particular communication style. It's more than just drafting. Copilot offers suggestions to enhance the tone, clarity, and effectiveness of your emails.
Document Creation in Word: Imagine generating a comprehensive blog post or proposal with just a few prompts. Copilot in Word does exactly that, offering a solid foundation for your documents.
Revolutionizing PowerPoint Presentations: Copilot in PowerPoint is a standout feature. It can create full presentations, complete with slides and content, based on your input. It's a massive time-saver for anyone who frequently uses PowerPoint.
Microsoft 365 Chat: This is very similar to ChatGPT. However Copliot integrates what is known as the Microsoft Graph data of your organization – this is all the files accessible to you in SharePoint and other Microsoft 365 sources. Here’s an example of a prompt you could use: “Create a FAQ based on our vacation policy”.
Maximizing ROI with Microsoft Copilot
We propose the following action plan.
Figuring Out Who Needs Copilot
How to make Copilot cost-effective is to figure out which workers will gain the most from it. Copilot has a lot of advanced features that not everyone in your company may need. This is how you can make your choice:
Make Business Use Cases: To begin, make a list of the specific jobs and processes that Copilot can help your company do more efficiently. Among other things, this could include writing emails and papers, analysing data in Excel, and making presentations in PowerPoint.
Check Out Employee Jobs: Take a look at the jobs in your company and see which ones have tasks that Copilot can help with. For instance, marketing teams might like how quickly it can create content, and sales teams might use how well it can analyse data to make better sales reports.
Assessment of Productivity Gains: Think about how Copilot might help different jobs save time and get more done. If a tool makes a certain job much easier and faster, it might be worth the money.
Pilot Program: Get a small group of people from different areas to use a pilot program. Keep an eye on how they use it, get feedback, and figure out how it affects their work quality and productivity.
Feedback and Changes: Make smart choices about wider application based on the feedback from the pilot program. You may find that some roles gain more than others, which will help you better distribute licenses.
Using Strategy to Get the Best Returns
Once you've found the right people in your company to be Copilot testers, it's important to make sure they know how to use it correctly. Here are some ideas:
Training Sessions: Set up training sessions for some workers to learn about Copilot's features and functions.
Share your Best Ideas: Encourage workers to share any useful information they find while using Copilot. This will help create an environment where people can work together to learn.
Check-ins: Set up regular check-ins to see how the tool is being used and how it's changing the way work gets done.
Moving Forward with Microsoft Copilot
It can be pricey to buy Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365, especially for small businesses. You can get the most out of your investment, though, if you carefully choose the right people and make sure they know how to use the tool. It's all about planning ahead and keeping your business goals and employees' work flows in mind.
Purchasing Copilot isn't straightforward via Microsoft's website; it involves contacting a Microsoft representative or, for partners like us, through a license provider. Once acquired and assigned to your Microsoft 365 tenant, you're all set to explore its capabilities.
So how much does Ccpilot cost? Microsoft charges $360/user per year.
Conclusion
Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 can be a substantial investment, especially for small businesses. However, by carefully selecting the right users and ensuring they are well-equipped to leverage this tool, you can maximize the return on your investment. If you would like assistant with Copilot and help identifying who might use it in your company get in touch with us today.
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