Copilot for everyone: Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now FULLY available

This is the day you have been waiting for, the day you can start to chat to your data, summarise Word documents, develop complex formulas in Excel, create presentations from documents and analyse meetings for minutes and actions. Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now available to any organisations of any size. All Microsoft Enterprise, CSP, Microsoft 365 Business and Business Premium customers can access Copilot for Microsoft 365. Microsoft has also lifted the requirement for just Microsoft 365 licenses and you can now have Copilot for Microsoft 365, even if you are only purchasing Office 365 licenses. 

The new era of AI in Microsoft 365 

It was only 11 months ago when Microsoft first showed off what it hoped to create, after its investment into OpenAI, and linking ChatGPT and Copilot with Microsoft 365. With the ability to chat with office products, you can analyse and summarise anything you create, resulting in improved productivity, something we want for all users.   

Microsoft Research recently released its Microsoft New Future of Work Report 2023 (NFW Report for short). The report focuses on the use of AI and LLMs (large language models) in the workplace and gives valuable insight into how we should implement AI and Copilot for Microsoft 365 in our organisations. 

Training and adoption are key! 

Our first point of call must be the adoption of Copilot for our users.  We should not just give out new features to our users without helping them to first understand what these features can do and how they can help with work and productivity. The NFW Report talks about how a negative perception of AI can deter the use of Copilot in the workplace, and this isn’t helped by the negative news coverage highlighting the risks of using AI. Users are more likely to adopt a solution when they hear and see positive use cases from colleagues and see teams use it for the outcomes they want. This is also true with AI adoption, so we should always aim to demonstrate a positive stance towards Copilot for Microsoft 365 and more generally, chatting to our data. 

We must not neglect what Microsoft has built with Copilot Labs. Copilot Labs is a feature integrated across all areas of Copilot for Microsoft 365, that can be used for training and enhanced adoption within an organisation. It provides example prompts and helps end users build confidence, using Copilot in your workplace. The NFW report talks about how we need to train employees on how to build prompts but also how to turn single prompt into a conversation with their data, to help understand and break down the information further. Studies completed by Microsoft Research showed that users completed tasks with Copilot, were between 26% to 73% faster than those without Copilot. 

The faster we implement Copilot for Microsoft 365 and Copilot Labs for training and adoption, the better outcomes we will have, not forgetting the investment you’ll be getting back on your Copilot purchase. 

Chatting to our data and using Copilot Studio 

A key feature of Copilot for Microsoft 365 is the ability to talk to our data. This is the data that individual end users have access to inside of Microsoft 365, such as Outlook, OneDrive and SharePoint. The NFW report talks abouts how one of the biggest challenges in the enterprise space is finding information in fragmented knowledge-based solutions, such as Microsoft 365. The ability to find content across Microsoft 365 using Copilot, will enhance the workforce to make better decisions. Further research by Microsoft has shown that users can come to a decision up to two times faster when using LLMs such as Copilot, to find the information they need. 

The conversations with our data doesn’t stop with Copilot for Microsoft 365 and the Microsoft Graph, it can also be extended with Microsoft Copilot Studio. So, for example, if you want to know something about a certain customer, Copilot Studio won’t just look at your data in Microsoft 365, it can also look at your CRM solution, content in other cloud hyper scalers and any kind of data you point it at.  

Meetings are better with Copilot 

One of the main Copilot features used by early adopters is Copilot for Teams.  The ability to understand more from a meeting can make them less draining, said 58% of users with Copilot. With the right prompts, it can also help with creativity and breaking down tasks for post meeting actions. The NFW report demonstrates that if you ask Copilot to help break down an agreed task or action, you can ensure the primary goal is achieved with a better success rate. 

Copilot in Teams can help to analyse meetings, but end users can also ask it to help them understand certain perspectives. For example, end users can prompt Copilot about how the meeting landed with the customer, ask for questions for a follow up email, or ask it to list the top five creative ideas from the call. 

@Copilot: “ask Softcat to deliver my Copilot for Microsoft 365 licenses” 

Softcat is here to support you with all your Microsoft license needs, and that is no different now that Copilot for Microsoft 365 is available. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with your Softcat Account Manager or contact our Sales team, and we’ll happily help you with the delivery to your tenancy.