CoPilot for Microsoft 365 - Is It Worth $360?!

Jonathan Edwards
18 Jan 202414:52

TLDRJonathan Edwards from Integral IT introduces Co-pilot for Microsoft 365, a powerful AI assistant designed to enhance productivity across Microsoft's suite of applications, now available to businesses with fewer than 300 users. With a subscription costing $30 per user per month, Edwards demonstrates how Co-pilot integrates with Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, offering features like email drafting, document creation, presentation building, and data analysis. Highlighting the importance of detailed prompts for effective results, the video showcases Co-pilot's capabilities to draft emails, summarize content, and even suggest improvements, making it an invaluable tool for enhancing business operations and communication.

Takeaways

  • 😀 Microsoft has released Co-Pilot for Microsoft 365 to businesses with fewer than 300 users, after initially launching it for enterprise customers.
  • 🌐 Co-Pilot integrates with Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, functioning as a digital assistant to enhance productivity.
  • 💸 The service is not free, costing $30 per user per month with an annual commitment, amounting to $360 (or £294.60 in the UK) per user per year.
  • 🔑 Purchasing Co-Pilot isn't direct through Microsoft but requires contacting a Microsoft representative or buying through a license provider.
  • 🎓 Microsoft offers guidance on crafting effective prompts for Co-Pilot, breaking them down into goal, context, expectations, and source for the best results.
  • ✉ In Outlook, Co-Pilot can draft emails, offer writing coaching based on the email content, and summarize long email chains for quicker comprehension.
  • 📝 Within Word, Co-Pilot can generate draft documents based on prompts, offering options to adjust tone, length, and even re-draft based on feedback.
  • 🎨 In PowerPoint, Co-Pilot aids in creating presentations quickly, including adding specific slides on request, which can be a significant time saver.
  • 📊 Excel's Co-Pilot feature is in preview, suggesting it's not fully developed, but can analyze table data for insights and perform tasks like sorting and adding formulae.
  • 📅 The introduction of Co-Pilot for Microsoft Teams will be covered in a future video, indicating ongoing expansion of Co-Pilot's capabilities across Microsoft's suite.

Q & A

  • What is Microsoft 365 Co-Pilot?

    -Microsoft 365 Co-Pilot is an AI technology developed by Microsoft that integrates with all Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint. It acts as a digital assistant designed to enhance productivity and streamline tasks.

  • When was Microsoft 365 Co-Pilot initially released?

    -Microsoft 365 Co-Pilot was initially released at the end of 2023, but it was only made available to Enterprise customers, i.e., those with over 300 users.

  • Who is the speaker in the video and what is his role?

    -The speaker in the video is Jonathan Edwards from Integral IT, a company that helps businesses worldwide with Microsoft 365 solutions.

  • What is the cost associated with Microsoft 365 Co-Pilot?

    -Microsoft 365 Co-Pilot is not free. It costs $30 per user per month, and users are required to pay for the license on an annual basis, amounting to $360 or £29460 upfront.

  • How does one acquire a Microsoft 365 Co-Pilot license?

    -Users cannot directly buy Co-Pilot licenses from Microsoft. As the speaker mentions, they had to purchase it through a license provider. It's important to note that the process might involve contacting a Microsoft representative for further assistance.

  • What are the key components of a 'perfect prompt' for Co-Pilot?

    -A 'perfect prompt' for Co-Pilot consists of four parts: the goal, the context, the expectations, and the source. Providing detailed information in these areas can lead to better responses from Co-Pilot.

  • How does Co-Pilot assist in drafting emails in Outlook?

    -Co-Pilot assists in drafting emails by allowing users to input what they want the email to look like. Users can then generate a draft, modify it as needed, and either keep it or regenerate for a new draft. Co-Pilot also offers a coaching feature to improve existing emails and a summary feature to condense lengthy email threads.

  • What is the functionality of Co-Pilot in Microsoft Word?

    -In Microsoft Word, Co-Pilot can draft documents based on user input. It can generate a blog post, proposal, or other types of documents. It also has the ability to summarize existing documents and draft new ones based on their content.

  • How does Co-Pilot help in creating PowerPoint presentations?

    -Co-Pilot streamlines the process of creating PowerPoint presentations by generating a complete presentation based on user input, such as the topic and key points. It can also add slides based on additional information provided and create presentations from long PDF documents.

  • What are some of the features of Co-Pilot in Excel?

    -Co-Pilot in Excel offers features like data highlighting, sorting and filtering, and adding formula columns. It provides insights based on the data in the spreadsheet, which can help users better understand and manipulate their data.

  • What application was not covered in the video?

    -The video did not cover the use of Co-Pilot in Microsoft Teams. The speaker mentioned that Co-Pilot for Teams would be discussed in a future video.

  • What is the speaker's overall impression of Co-Pilot's capabilities?

    -The speaker, Jonathan Edwards, seems impressed with Co-Pilot's capabilities, noting that it saves time and provides a foundation for high-quality work across various Microsoft 365 applications. However, he also acknowledges that there are some 'teething problems,' indicating that the technology might still be undergoing refinements and improvements.

Outlines

00:00

📣 Introduction to Microsoft 365 Co-Pilot

Jonathan Edwards from Integral IT introduces the Microsoft 365 Co-Pilot, an AI technology that integrates with Microsoft 365 apps. Co-Pilot, released at the end of 2023, is now available for small businesses. It acts as a digital assistant but comes at a cost of $30 per user per month, requiring an annual payment. The video demonstrates how Co-Pilot works and mentions the importance of using detailed prompts for better results. It also highlights the need to update to the latest version of Microsoft Office applications to access Co-Pilot features.

05:01

📧 Co-Pilot in Outlook: Drafting and Coaching Emails

The video showcases Co-Pilot's capabilities in Outlook, including drafting emails based on user prompts and generating content with various tones and lengths. It also covers the coaching feature, which analyzes existing emails for improvements, and the summary feature, condensing lengthy email threads for quick understanding. The summary function is noted to be useful on smartphones, enhancing mobile email management.

10:03

✍️ Co-Pilot in Word and PowerPoint: Content Creation

Co-Pilot's functionality in Word is demonstrated by generating a blog post based on user input, with options to adjust the formality and regenerate content. In PowerPoint, Co-Pilot is shown to quickly create presentations from scratch or based on existing documents, like a PDF, with the ability to add slides and summarize content. The video emphasizes the time-saving benefits and creative potential of Co-Pilot in document and presentation creation.

📊 Co-Pilot in Excel: Data Insights and Analysis

The video explores Co-Pilot's capabilities in Excel, such as providing data insights from a spreadsheet and generating summaries. It mentions that Co-Pilot is still in the preview phase for Excel and suggests that there may be more features to come. The demonstration shows how Co-Pilot can analyze data, highlight trends, and offer insights, which could be valuable for users working with large datasets.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 is a suite of productivity applications developed by Microsoft. It includes widely used tools such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. In the context of the video, Microsoft 365 is the platform where the new AI technology, co-pilot, is integrated, enhancing the functionality of its applications.

💡Co-pilot

Co-pilot is an AI-driven feature introduced by Microsoft 365 that acts as a digital assistant to users. It is designed to streamline and automate various tasks within Microsoft's applications, such as drafting emails, creating documents, and generating presentations. The video provides an overview of how co-pilot works and its applications across different Microsoft 365 services.

💡AI Technology

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and learn like humans. In the video, AI technology is embodied by co-pilot, which uses machine learning and natural language processing to assist users in their Microsoft 365 applications.

💡Digital Assistant

A digital assistant is an AI-powered software program that helps users perform tasks, such as setting reminders, sending messages, or providing information. In the video, co-pilot serves as a digital assistant within Microsoft 365, automating tasks like email drafting and document creation.

💡Co-pilot Pricing

Co-pilot pricing refers to the cost associated with using the co-pilot feature in Microsoft 365. The video mentions that co-pilot is not a free service and requires an annual commitment per user. Understanding the pricing model is essential for businesses considering the adoption of co-pilot for their Microsoft 365 suite.

💡Microsoft Partner

A Microsoft Partner is a company or individual that has a formalized business relationship with Microsoft to sell, support, or develop Microsoft products and services. In the video, the speaker mentions being a Microsoft partner as a way to acquire co-pilot licenses for demonstration purposes.

💡Outlook

Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available as part of the Microsoft Office suite. It includes features like email, calendar, contact management, and task management. In the video, co-pilot is shown to enhance Outlook by drafting emails, providing coaching suggestions, and summarizing long email threads.

💡Word

Word is a word processing software part of the Microsoft Office suite. It is widely used for creating documents, reports, and other written content. In the context of the video, co-pilot is integrated with Word to help users draft and refine documents more efficiently.

💡PowerPoint

PowerPoint is a presentation software developed by Microsoft, included in the Microsoft Office suite. It is used for creating slideshows and presentations. The video highlights how co-pilot can streamline the process of creating presentations in PowerPoint by generating content based on user prompts.

💡Excel

Excel is a spreadsheet software from Microsoft, used for data organization, computation, and analysis. In the video, co-pilot's integration with Excel is showcased by its ability to provide insights and summaries from data within a spreadsheet.

💡Co-pilot Prompts

Co-pilot prompts refer to the input or instructions given by users to the co-pilot AI to perform specific tasks. These prompts typically include the user's goal, context, expectations, and source, which help co-pilot generate more accurate and relevant responses.

Highlights

Microsoft 365 has released co-pilot for businesses with fewer than 300 users.

Co-pilot for Microsoft 365 is an AI technology that integrates with all Microsoft 365 apps.

Co-pilot was initially available only to Enterprise customers with over 300 users.

Co-pilot costs $30 per user per month on an annual basis.

Co-pilot is designed to be a digital assistant for users.

The more detailed information you provide to co-pilot, the better the response.

Co-pilot has a feature called 'draft with co-pilot' for creating emails in Outlook.

Co-pilot offers a coaching feature to analyze and suggest improvements for existing emails.

There is a 'summary by co-pilot' feature to condense long emails for quicker understanding.

Co-pilot can draft documents in Microsoft Word based on user prompts.

Co-pilot can also summarize and edit existing Word documents.

In PowerPoint, co-pilot can create presentations based on user-provided topics and data.

Co-pilot can quickly generate a presentation from a long PDF document.

Co-pilot's Excel integration allows for data insights and analysis.

Co-pilot is still in development for some features, such as Excel's 'Flex cell'.

The video creator has purchased a license to demonstrate co-pilot's capabilities.

Co-pilot can significantly improve productivity and efficiency in various Microsoft 365 applications.