What Is Microsoft Copilot?

Microsoft originally introduced Microsoft Copilot as Bing Chat in 2023. Since then, Microsoft has continued developing the AI assistant into multiple versions, depending on your use case.

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is the free version of the Copilot AI tool. Aimed at individual users, Copilot includes basic generative AI functionality, including:

• Chat functionality with text, voice, and image capabilities.
• Document and web page summarization.
• AI image creation using Microsoft Designer.
• Web grounding for reliable information.
• Basic commercial data protection, ensuring privacy and security for your conversations.

Microsoft Copilot Pro

Microsoft Copilot Pro is recommended for individual users looking for more advanced AI capabilities. This paid version of Microsoft Copilot includes everything in the free version plus:

• Priority access to GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo (the language models engineered by OpenAI and implemented within Copilot to generate human-like text) during peak times.
• Faster AI image creation in Microsoft Designer.
• Copilot plugin integration with Microsoft applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook.

Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365

Tailored specifically for businesses, organizations, and professionals, Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 offers the most sophisticated level of functionality and security. In addition to all the features included in Microsoft Copilot, Copilot for Microsoft 365 includes:

• Seamless integration with Microsoft 365 apps.
• Copilot plugin integration with Microsoft Teams.
• Enterprise-grade data protection and Microsoft Graph grounding. Learn more about security and Copilot for 365 below.
• Customization and extensibility through Microsoft Copilot Studio.

Microsoft Copilot for Roles

Microsoft has also developed a series of role-specific Copilots to help professionals be more successful in the workplace. Additionally, Microsoft Copilot studio allows you to customize Copilot for Microsoft 365 or build your own unique Copilot. Role-based Copilots include:

• Copilot for Development (Github Copilot)
• Copilot for Finance
• Copilot for Sales
• Copilot for Service
• Copilot for Security

We understand that managing a tight budget is a reality for many businesses. If you’re considering integrating generative AI tools into your technology ecosystem, you might be wondering why you should invest in Copilot for Microsoft 365 when a free version is available.

Security

Copilot for Microsoft 365 boasts essential security and privacy features crucial for safeguarding sensitive business data. By opting for this version, you gain heightened control over application access, facilitating superior security management. Moreover, it ensures compliance with stringent 6rivacy and security regulations, including GDPR and EU Data Boundary.

Productivity

Copilot for Microsoft 365 is meticulously crafted to streamline operations for businesses already leveraging Microsoft 365 applications. This version seamlessly integrates with a wide array of Microsoft applications to enhance your existing workflows. Particularly noteworthy is its compatibility with Microsoft Teams, offering a comprehensive suite of features to bolster productivity during meetings.

Additionally, as an extension of your Microsoft 365 capabilities, Copilot for Microsoft 365 has the ability to reference your existing shared data and files for a more unique generative AI experience.

If you’re interested in learning more about Copilot for Microsoft 365’s security features, Microsoft has extensively documented the application’s security information on its website.

Cost-Effectiveness

Microsoft has engineered Copilot for 365 to be a comprehensive AI assistant that integrates a wide range of functionalities into one platform—one way to think of it is like an AI Swiss Army knife that helps with many of your digital tasks.

There are many AI tools out there for different, specific tasks. Instead of subscribing to individual tools, Copilot for 365 gives you AI assistance for various needs such as writing, coding help, data analysis, and more, all in one tool. By consolidating, Copilot for 365 helps simplify the experience for users (especially those new to AI) and proves to be a cost-effective option for businesses beginning to implement AI. You can save on the cumulative costs of multiple subscriptions and benefit from the convenience of a single, unified service.

• Web-Based. You can access Microsoft Copilot by navigating to copilot.microsoft.com.
• In-App. If you have a Copilot Pro or Copilot for Microsoft 365 subscription, you’ll find a dedicated Copilot button in the Home ribbon of Microsoft 365 applications like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, and OneNote.

1. Elevate your writing.

Whether you’re working online or within Microsoft Word, Copilot is your writing companion. It assists in drafting documents, rewriting text for clarity and impact, and generating concise summaries.

2. Create compelling presentations.

Copilot simplifies the process of creating PowerPoint presentations. It can generate a new presentation from a prompt or a Word file, leveraging your organization’s existing templates. Additionally, it can provide summaries for your presentations, making them easier to understand and follow.

3. Uncover data insights.

Within Excel, Copilot acts as your personal data analyst. It provides suggestions for formulas and offers valuable insights about your spreadsheet’s data, helping you make informed decisions.

4. Compose more effective emails.

In Outlook, Copilot serves as your communication coach. It guides you in drafting emails, offering suggestions to enhance clarity, sentiment, and tone. Additionally, it can help summarize lengthy emails, so you can spend less time reading through replies.

5. Streamline notetaking.

With Copilot, organizing your notes within OneNote becomes effortless. It aids in generating ideas, creating lists, and structuring your notes, making information retrieval quick and easy.

6. Design engaging forms.

Copilot simplifies the process of creating surveys, polls, and other types of forms in Microsoft Forms. Using prompts, it guides you through the form creation process, ensuring your forms are engaging and easy to understand.

One of the most impressive integrations of Copilot for Microsoft 365 is its functionality within Microsoft Teams. Designed to augment your user experience, Copilot helps transform your productivity during ordinary meetings.

• Your Meeting Assistant. Coplot helps amplify your productivity during Teams meetings—it’s engineered to make every moment count, ensuring that no idea or discussion point is lost.
• During Meetings. Copilot helps summarize key discussion points in real-time, capturing who said what, pinpointing areas of alignment or disagreement, and even suggesting action items.
• Late and Missed Meetings. Running late? No worries, Copilot has got you covered. If you’re joining a recorded or transcribed meeting 5 minutes or more after it has started, Copilot provides a concise yet comprehensive summary of the discussions so far, ensuring you’re always in the loop.
• Sound Smarter. Acting as a thought partner, Copilot suggests prompts within the compose box to the right of your meeting window, arming you with insights to articulate your thoughts clearly and confidently.
• Meeting Wrap-Up. A few minutes before a meeting’s scheduled end, Copilot sends out prompts designed to facilitate smooth conclusions—it provides summaries of key points discussed and outlines agreed-upon next steps.
• After the Meeting. Copilot remains available in the meeting’s Recap tab as a great resource for reviewing content discussed during the meeting.

In a world of many generative AI assistants, you may be wondering how Microsoft Copilot stacks up against one of the bigger names, OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Each offers a free version; however, for those seeking enhanced features and capabilities, Copilot for Microsoft 365 and ChatGPT Plus are both available at the cost of $30/user/month (pricing as of April 15, 2024). Also, it’s important to understand that Microsoft Copilot for 365 relies on the exact same large learning language model (LLM) as ChatGPT Plus (GPT-4) for its generative text capabilities.

ChatGPT Plus stands out for its versatility, adept at handling a diverse array of applications. It’s an option that many users find comprehensive and adaptable. On the other hand, Microsoft 365 Copilot carves out its niche particularly among businesses and professional organizations. The integration of Microsoft 365 Copilot with widely used applications like Word, Teams, and Excel is seamless if your business ecosystem is already nestled within the Microsoft 365 suite. This integration fosters a unified and efficient experience tailored to enhance productivity and streamline operations.

What sets Microsoft 365 Copilot apart is its ability to be unique to your organization. It can reference your business’s shared files to augment its AI capabilities, ensuring personalized outputs that are in sync with your organizational needs.

As always, security remains paramount—choosing Microsoft 365 Copilot aligns businesses with robust security measures, including data loss prevention, advanced threat protection, and more. The assurance that data and communications are safeguarded adds an extra layer of confidence for businesses opting for Microsoft 365 Copilot.

As a comprehensive technology partner, we understand the importance of exploring leading-edge technology solutions and helping our partner organizations learn about and integrate new tools safely and efficiently.

If you’re ready to explore how our IT Solutions, including Managed Services, Managed O365, Cybersecurity, and IT Consulting, can elevate your business operations, contact us.