What is Microsoft 365 Copilot?
Microsoft 365 Copilot is a revolutionary new service that employs advanced AI, specifically a Large Language Model like ChatGPT, to optimise your content creation, design, and presentation processes. This enables you to boost your day-to-day productivity while maintaining high levels of accuracy and quality.
Microsoft 365 Copilot integrates as an extension of your Microsoft 365 apps, offering innovative improvements to Word, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Teams (with even more on the horizon).
Key Uses of Copilot
Microsoft 365 CoPilot can help you with different aspects of your work, depending on the application you are using. Some quick examples of what Copilot can do for you are:
Underprepared?
Automatically generate meeting notes and presentations in seconds.
Too many apps open?
Pull data through different Office suite apps with one prompt.
Creative block?
Improve your presentations in PowerPoint with creative recommendations and suggestions for layout, colour, font, image, icon, and animation.
Notes need refining?
Review and tidy your work or add finishing touches with AI-powered suggestions. Ask Copilot to summarise your quick notes and add a touch of professional polish.
Missed your meeting?
Provide summary notes or generate action points for a meeting you didn’t attend.
Unsure where to start?
Pop in a sentence or two and it will put together a full base report/document/analysis for to get things started for you.
Looking for trends?
Copilot can quickly share insight and data patterns from your data based on what you ask.
If you would like to see Copilot in action, watch this quick video from Microsoft.
When will Copilot be released and what does it cost?
Microsoft 365 Copilot is set to launch in November 2023, but sadly, it’s only for organisations with Enterprise agreements—that leaves us and our customers out for now. As for when it will be available to everyone else, that’s still up in the air.
What we do know is that the service will be available as an add-on to existing Microsoft 365 licenses, specifically for Business Standard, Business Premium, E3, or E5 plans. Pricing is roughly estimated at $30 USD/license, but we’re still waiting for details on New Zealand-specific rates.
Are there other versions of Copilot?
Already in general release is Bing Chat Enterprise, accessed directly in Microsoft’s Edge browser. With access to the internet, Bing Chat Enterprise can be used as both an AI content generator and advanced search tool.
Built in data protection allows Bing Chat Enterprise to be used in a business environment without risk of company or client data being leaked. There is no cost for this service.
With the latest Windows 11 update (not presently available in NZ) Microsoft is launching Windows Copilot. Windows Copilot is a free feature for commercial users that allows access to Bing Chat from your desktop, but also allows you to interact with your operating system (i.e. change settings) from that interface. More features are expected to be added.
Is there anything we should do to prepare for Microsoft 365 Copilot?
With the appropriate base license in place, you’ll be set to subscribe to Microsoft 365 Copilot once it’s released. It’s a good idea to start exploring how to use it internally to maximise productivity gains across your organisation.
Security-wise, keep in mind that Copilot will have the same level of access to files and data as individual users within your Microsoft 365 environment. This could potentially expose weak points in your permission settings and sharing structures.
So, before rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot, we strongly recommend conducting a comprehensive permissions review.
How the I.T. team will Support Your Co-Pilot Journey
We’re excited about the impact Copilot can have on organisations, including yours. We will be sending regular updates before and after it hits the market. If you’re interested in receiving that content, do subscribe to our newsletter.
If you have any specific questions or want to chat about how to prepare your organisation for this arrival of Copilot, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here to help. We’d love to talk to you.