Something Big to Chat About: Announcing the General Availability of Copilot for Microsoft 365

Copilot for Microsoft 365 has landed! We’ve covered much of the Microsoft Copilot rollout in our continuing Copilot blog series, and Microsoft itself does a great job with additional details in this post. So, rather than simply list the features you’ll find in each M365 application, we’re taking an FAQ approach, offering answers to some of the questions we’re already being asked about Copilot.

What is Microsoft Announcing for Copilot?

Microsoft just announced the general availability of Copilot for Microsoft 365. They also snuck in a couple of other related announcements. One is the rollout of Microsoft 365 Chat, and another is the introduction of Copilot Lab (see below for more info on both). All told, Copilot for Microsoft 365 reaches into the following apps:

What is Microsoft 365 Copilot?

Copilot isn’t just another chatbot or a simple search assistant. Think of it as a highly focused version of ChatGPT embedded throughout Microsoft 365. Copilot understands your natural language queries, context, and even the intent behind your questions. By tapping into Copilot throughout your workday and across applications, you’ll save time, get more done, and be able to focus more on strategic tasks and less on administrative ones.

We mentioned above that we wouldn’t go into exhaustive detail about Copilot’s capabilities in Microsoft 365—you can get those details here or here. But we couldn’t resist providing a quick summary of some of the fun you can have with Copilot:

• Ask Excel to “make all cells red where the value is under 100” — or create a professional visualization or graph.
• Ask Word to rewrite a paragraph for you using a more (or less) formal tone — or to summarize a long document into bullet points.
• Ask Outlook to summarize your email thread, including suggested action items. Or, one of our favorites, you can choose “Sound like me” to match your writing style and voice when Copilot drafts an email for you.

When Can I Get Microsoft 365 Copilot?

Copilot for Microsoft 365 is available for enterprise customers beginning November 1, 2023. Preview customers can already access many of Copilot’s capabilities. Copilot for Windows hit the market on September 26.

How much does Copilot cost?

Copilot will be available to enterprise customers for $30 per user per month.

How will users access Copilot?

Users can simply keep an eye out for the new Copilot icon within each impacted application.

What is Microsoft 365 Chat?

Microsoft 365 Chat is an enhanced feature within Microsoft 365 Copilot. Initially previewed as Business Chat, this feature evolved significantly over recent months, offering much more than just basic Q&A functionality.

Microsoft 365 Chat within Copilot simplifies complexity, removes tedious tasks, and frees up valuable work hours. It acts like a highly intuitive assistant, finely attuned to your job role, priorities, and organizational needs. It can swiftly locate files you need—even those you’ve forgotten about—and links related content across different platforms instantly. Furthermore, it seamlessly integrates with the business applications you rely on daily.

If you’re part of Microsoft’s preview program, you can use the feature today by logging into Microsoft365.com or Teams with your work account.

What is Copilot Lab?

Copilot Lab serves as a sandbox for you to play in and perfect your Copilot interactions. Use it to refine your interaction prompts, exchange standout queries with team members, and collectively discover novel ways to work in this AI-enhanced environment. Once it rolls out for general use, Copilot Lab will be seamlessly integrated into Microsoft 365 and accessible through a dedicated website for all Copilot users.

Why Is All of This Important to My Organization?

Generative AI tools, like Copilot, have the potential to speed up and simplify many of the routine, manual tasks we perform every day. Consider this: The average professional receives over 100 emails each day—and sends 33. Microsoft’s research into Outlook users found that its heaviest users receive over 200 emails and send or read nearly 150 Teams chats. And if you thought the shift back to the office would cut the number of Teams meetings we’re having—think again. Globally, Teams users are in three times more weekly meetings than in 2020.

If Copilot could shave even a few seconds off the time it takes us to respond to an email or cut minutes off the time it takes to send out meeting summaries, you might easily save an hour a day or more! Multiply that across your organization, and the impacts are enormous.

Don’t Miss the Flight?

Get rid of repetitive task, create creative content, and make data-driven decisions. Copilot is poised to deliver on the promise of technology. Understand Copilot’s capabilities and how they can best fit in your company’s workflow and goals. Contact us to learn more.