Copilot for Microsoft 365 now available for businesses of all sizes
Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 is an AI-powered productivity tool that can be integrated with everyday Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more. It utilises large language models (LLMs) and content in Microsoft Graph to provide real-time intelligent assistance, enhancing the creativity, productivity, and skills of users.
Copilot revolutionises collaboration by seamlessly connecting all your Microsoft applications. It facilitates real-time co-authoring, ensuring team members stay in sync even when out of the office. The tool also streamlines document management by providing feedback on shared documents and suggesting relevant content.
Microsoft has now expanded its offering making Copilot for Microsoft 365 available for all businesses, regardless of size. Customers with Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Business Standard plans can add Copilot and benefit from all its features from today.
Microsoft has also removed the previous 300-seat minimum requirement for adding Copilot to a Microsoft 365 business subscription. This means even a single-person business can add Copilot with just one seat required.
If you are using either Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Microsoft 365 Business Premium, you can purchase Copilot for Microsoft 365 as an add-on to your subscription for $30 per user per month.
Why AI Adoption is Important for SMBs
Small and medium businesses (SMBs) must be ready to leverage this new technology to help them grow faster, be more efficient and compete more effectively. By spending less effort on the time-consuming, day-to-day work that all workers’ experience, they can focus more energy on what they love—their business. Microsoft 365 Copilot eases the weight of work for small and medium businesses by providing valuable suggestions, relevant insights, and design tips for an overall improvement in their work.
By using Copilot, SMBs can benefit from the following:
- Seamless integration with all Microsoft applications, facilitating real-time co-authoring and ensuring team members stay in sync even when out of the office.
- Streamlined document management by providing feedback on shared documents and suggesting relevant content.
- Enhanced productivity and creativity by providing valuable suggestions, relevant insights, and design tips for an overall improvement in their work.
- Reduced workload and time spent on time-consuming, day-to-day work, allowing SMBs to focus more energy on their business.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Best Practices
Microsoft 365 Copilot is a powerful tool that can help your organisation become more successful than ever. Here are some things you need to know when getting started with Microsoft Copilot:
- Office Applications: Once enabled within your organisation, Microsoft Copilot will be available in all of the 365 Office applications such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, etc. You don’t have to spend time accessing Copilot externally when working as it will be on the right-hand side of your applications.
- Suggestions: As you type in Microsoft Copilot, it’ll suggest things based on context. Getting used to these suggestions and utilising them will help improve your workflow. You can customise these suggestions in your settings to tailor them to what you need.
- Fact-Checking: Over-reliance on Microsoft Copilot could cause errors or inaccuracies, so it’s important to check whatever you do in Copilot to ensure that it’s correct before continuing. This is good practice, as with any research.
- Automation: Using tools such as the Power Platform and Microsoft Autopilot can help speed up everyday tasks and make your workplace even more productive and efficient.
Microsoft Copilot is there to be your assistant, meaning that you simply just need to tell it what you want, and it should be able to help. However, these practices will be able to help you use Copilot most efficiently and effectively.
What do SMBs need to know before using Microsoft Copilot?
To help you get started with Microsoft Copilot, we recommend that you prepare your licensing by choosing Business Premium. A Premium licence offers advanced features, including higher data storage limits, more robust security measures, and access to premium AI tools. These features can significantly enhance AI capabilities, making it a worthwhile investment for businesses.
Before installing AI tools like Copilot, it’s essential to have a secure data strategy in place. This strategy should ensure the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of your data. A secure data strategy is important because AI tools learn from the data they’re given – if the data is compromised, so too will be the AI’s performance and reliability. The Business Premium licence can assist with this, offering advanced data management and security features to help protect your data and ensure it’s used effectively.
The final step is to secure identities and access. As you integrate AI into your business operations, it’s likely you will be handling sensitive data. Therefore, it’s crucial to ensure only authorised workers have access to this data. Implementing strong identity and access management practices is an excellent opportunity to shore up your business’s security. This includes using strong, unique passwords, enabling multi-factor authentication, and regularly reviewing access permissions.
What you can do today
If you are a small or medium-sized business, you can start using Copilot for Microsoft 365 today. You need to learn about how Copilot works, understand licensing and technical requirements, and get familiar with new capabilities.
Getting to grips with Copilot will be vital for any organisation looking to be at the forefront of this new technological age — as Microsoft seems to be full steam ahead with its AI dreams.
If you are looking to get started with Copilot for Microsoft 365 today or want to implement AI solutions into your organisation, get in touch with us today. The team at HAYNE.cloud will be able to advise you and ensure that you’re making the best decisions for your business.
Reach out to HAYNE.cloud directly and see how we can help!
