Welcome to the September 2024 edition of What's New in Microsoft 365 Copilot! Every month, we highlight new features and enhancements to keep Microsoft 365 admins up to date with Copilot features that help your users be more productive and efficient in the apps they use every day.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s new this month:
Admin and management capabilities:
- Drive Copilot usage with the User Enablement Toolkit
- Upskill Copilot proficiency with expanded access to Microsoft Copilot Academy
- Expanded controls for managing the availability of Copilot in Teams meetings
End-user capabilities:
- Generate images and use pre-built agents with Business Chat
- Access Business Chat in more places and improve collaboration with Copilot in Outlook
- Chat privately in Copilot in Loop
- Reference longer content and get started on documents faster with Copilot in Word
- Capture every thought with Copilot in OneNote
- Skill up on Copilot and Microsoft 365
Drive Copilot usage with the User Enablement Toolkit
To help your users quickly realize the full benefit of Microsoft 365 Copilot, we’ve developed the Copilot User Enablement Toolkit. The toolkit includes communication templates and resources that you can send to your users and managers to inspire better Copilot engagement, with role-specific prompt examples and Copilot use cases. The content is designed to be customized to suit your organization’s needs. This toolkit was added to the Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption hub in September.
Screenshot of Microsoft 365 Copilot customizable email template for Outlook
Upskill Copilot proficiency with expanded access to Microsoft Copilot Academy
Microsoft Copilot Academy is now available to all users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, enabling them to upskill their Copilot proficiency. A paid Viva license is no longer required to access Copilot Academy. This academy – curated by Microsoft experts – provides a comprehensive, structured learning experience designed to help master the use of Copilot through hands-on learning activities and experiences. This expanded availability rolled out in September.
A computer screenshot of Microsoft Copilot Academy showing a centralized location to help with the basics of Copilot learning and upskilling.
Expanded controls for managing the availability of Copilot in Teams meetings
We’re introducing expanded controls for managing the availability of Copilot in Teams meetings. Now, IT admins and meeting organizers can select an ‘Off’ value for Copilot. IT admins will see the setting in the Teams Admin Center and can set Copilot to ‘Off’ per tenant, per user, or both. Meeting organizers can access the control called “Allow Copilot” in meeting options, and they will see three choices: (1) Only during the meeting, (2) During and after the meeting, and (3) Off. The new ‘Off’ value will disable Copilot availability for Teams meetings, and also disables Recording and Transcription. This feature is rolling out in September.
A computer screenshot showing Microsoft Teams option to adjust Recording & transcription.
Generate images and use pre-built agents with Business Chat
Users can now generate images directly in Business Chat or the Visual creator Copilot agent, using natural language prompts in both web and work modes. Business Chat leverages advanced AI models to create visual content, making it easier for users to visualize concepts and ideas seamlessly within their workflows. This feature is rolling out in September.
A gif of a Copilot chat showing image generation.
Access Business Chat in more places and improve collaboration with Copilot in Outlook
Users can now chat and interact with Business Chat (work) directly in Outlook mobile and Outlook for Mac. They can summarize their email, find important information from their organization, or help them prepare for an important meeting. This feature rolled out in August.
A mobile phone screenshot showing a Copilot chat with three suggested prompts.
Email is a great tool for collaboration, but some conversations can run long. For occasions when users need to escalate an email thread to a live conversation, Copilot can help them set up a meeting by selecting the Schedule with Copilot button in the ribbon. Copilot will create a meeting title, suggest an available meeting time, draft an agenda, and summarize the conversation. That’s it—their meeting invite is ready to be sent. This feature rolled out in August.
A computer screenshot showing a meeting request generated by Copilot.
Chat privately in Copilot in Loop
Users can now have a private, chat-based Copilot experience in Loop. Just as they can in Word and Excel, users can interact with Copilot in a pane on the side of the app, calling on content from across their Loop page, their enterprise, and the web. They can use this space to brainstorm, ask questions, or catch up without disturbing their teammates. Enjoy a private Copilot experience within Loop’s collaborative environment. This feature rolled out in September.
Use Copilot chat in Loop to ask Copilot a question and copy the answer to a Loop page
Reference longer content and get started on documents faster with Copilot in Word
Now, users can reference longer blocks of content in Draft with Copilot in Word. They can reference blocks of content up to about 75 thousand words. (Note: Generated content is still limited to ~3,000 words.). This feature rolled out in July on Web, and is rolling out in September on desktop and Mac.
Users can also get started on a draft immediately by using example prompts. On blank documents, Copilot in Word will now provide one-click examples of prompts that quickly help users get started on a new document. This feature is rolling out September for Web, and October for desktop and Mac.
See one-click examples and a more visible prompt box when you’re starting with a blank doc with Copilot in Word.
Capture every thought with Copilot in OneNote
Both typed and handwritten notes can now be analyzed at the same time with think with ink in Copilot in OneNote. No matter how a thought is captured, Copilot will summarize, rewrite, or generate to-do list. In addition, users can handwrite a prompt in the Copilot chat pane, and it will be automatically converted to typed text. This feature rolled out in August.
In the OneNote app, user handwrites a prompt in Copilot chat pane to update content on their OneNote page.
Skill up on Copilot and Microsoft 365
Check out this new blog series designed to help users skill up on Copilot and Microsoft 365 technologies. This is users’ go-to source for the latest skill-building updates, resources, and opportunities. This quarter’s blog covers essential Copilot adoption resources, content for small- and medium-sized organizations, new learning paths, technical videos, events, and more.
Did you know? The Microsoft 365 Roadmap is where you can get the latest updates on productivity apps and intelligent cloud services. Please note that the dates mentioned in this article are tentative and subject to change. Check back regularly to see what features are in development or coming soon.
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