
With the ubiquity of hybrid and remote work comes an inevitable influx of meetings in various formats—voice, video, and chat. Employees at all levels of an organization are busier than ever and often double-booked. Keeping track of these meetings and the insights, action items, and follow-up items required to stay efficient is increasingly challenging through traditional notetaking methods.
AI efficiency tools help organizations save time by automatically generating meeting transcripts and notes with rich functionality like action items, key points, and follow-up suggestions. They also help organizations get the most out of their data and realize the benefits of enterprise-level search functionality, embracing internal knowledge stores and verified data from the wider internet.
This post explores how to use Microsoft 365 Copilot in Teams meetings and Voice calls to automatically transcribe, summarize, and interact with meeting data before, during, and after a meeting or call. It will also explore other productivity techniques that Copilot offers in personal or group Chat and Channel messages, files, and e-mails across the Microsoft ecosystem.
Enabling Copilot during Teams meetings and Voice calls
To enjoy the benefits discussed below, you must first enable Copilot within Microsoft Teams (and Voice if using Teams Phone for VoIP and PSTN calls). Work with your admin or IT partner like CBTS to conduct the following steps:
- Verify your Microsoft license has a paid Copilot add-on.
- Turn on transcription and recording functionalities from the global Copilot menu.
- Turn on transcription for the selected meeting within Teams.
How to use Copilot in Teams meetings
Meeting organizers control how meeting and call participants can utilize Microsoft Copilot. Note that the organizational Copilot policy settings will override this feature, as well as sensitivity labels and meeting template settings. Here are three ways you can use Copilot with Teams meetings:
- Before the meeting: Use Copilot to generate a meeting agenda and summarize any notes from previous meetings or relevant projects.
- During the meeting: If transcription is turned off during a meeting but the meeting is still being recorded, participants can use Copilot to summarize the meeting notes so far, display action points, and use other innovative prompts during the meeting. However, no transcript or log of user prompts will be saved after the meeting, and users will need to copy and paste their chat with Copilot into a separate document.
- During and after the meeting: With transcription turned on, Copilot will automatically record a transcript for the meeting and a log of user prompts and interactions with Copilot, which will be available in real time and stored for future reference afterward.
- Intelligent meeting recap: This feature is available as part of the M365 Copilot license, it’s also included with Teams Premium, an add-on license that provides additional features to make Teams meetings more personalized, intelligent, and secure. To get access to Teams Premium, contact your IT admin.
Note that individual users’ interactions with Copilot during Microsoft Teams meetings are private and not shared with anyone else in the organization (unless the user chooses to do so).
Watch: Realizing ROI on your Copilot for M365 investment
Using Copilot during calls
Copilot can be used during VoIP or traditional PSTN calls if one user calls within Microsoft Teams Phone and has the appropriate Microsoft license. It can generate a transcript automatically that you can interact during the call and a summary with key points after the call concludes. In the transcript file, prompts can achieve different outcomes, such as:
- Suggest action items.
- What questions were unresolved?
- Who spoke the most, and what were the key points?
Also read: Nine essential steps for seamless AI integration within unified communications tools
Getting more out of your meetings and call transcripts
While Microsoft provides helpful sample prompts, users can easily customize their interactions with Copilot. Beyond working with calls and meeting notes, Copilot also works within Chat messages and Channel messages to create summaries and get up to speed on the latest insights from your team.
Here are a few use cases and prompts to get you started:
Purpose | Prompts |
Catch up in a meeting if you arrive late. |
|
Be more effective in your meeting. |
|
Get up to speed after a vacation or sabbatical. |
|
Draft better messages. |
|
Create summaries of files when sharing. |
|
More effective follow-up. |
|
Realizing the power of enterprise search
Learning how to use Copilot in Teams meetings is just beginning to explore the concept of enterprise search. In this model, AI will soon grant users access to data within an organization, including messages sent via chat, e-mail, and phone transcripts. Copilot can access all data within the client’s Microsoft tenant—any additional data must be uploaded or made available via one of many integrations.
Copilot realizes enterprise search by allowing users to search through Chat, Meeting Chat, Channels, transcripts, files, and e-mail messages. This next step in Copilot functionality promises to help you get the most out of your Microsoft environment by quickly navigating the vast data stores across channels.
One weakness of generative AI is its lack of transparency and inability to cite sources. However, Copilot solves this issue by creating citation numbers next to generated answers, which link to the source message Copilot used to fulfill the prompt request.
Empowering your team with next-gen performance from Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams Voice
CBTS enhances your enterprise technology experience by expertly managing your Microsoft 365 licensing. We take the complexity out of optimizing your Copilot setup while ensuring your security needs are fully met. Additionally, we streamline your Teams Voice configuration, enabling seamless communication and collaboration across your organization. Our holistic approach boosts productivity and fosters a cohesive work environment, allowing your teams to connect and perform at their best.
Get in touch to learn more about how to use Copilot in Teams meetings and across the Microsoft ecosystem to empower your team with highly productive and time-saving features.