Since its launch in 2017, Microsoft Teams has stood by a unique perspective: integrating communication and collaboration seamlessly into a unified experience. The platform serves as the focal point for scheduled meetings, calls, chats, document collaboration, app integration, and more, offering users a single space for collaborative work. Infused with AI capabilities, Teams has evolved into an intelligent workspace, fostering productivity and unlocking new potentials. The introduction of Microsoft 365 Copilot in Teams meetings marked the inception of intelligence across various communication and collaboration aspects within Teams.
At the previous Microsoft Inspire conference and now at the Microsoft Ignite 2023, a new wave of generative AI for Teams was unveiled, heralding the introduction of Microsoft 365 Copilot in Teams Phone and Teams chat. This expansion integrated advanced AI capabilities into unscheduled phone calls and written chat conversations, aiming to facilitate efficient discussion management, capture vital information, and streamline follow-ups on action items.
Microsoft Teams Phone
Teams Phone now pioneers the integration of Copilot, becoming the foremost UCaaS solution to incorporate generative AI capabilities into phone calls. This advancement allows users to make and receive calls via the Teams app on any device, receiving real-time summarizations and insights. Copilot assists in note-taking during calls and identifies crucial elements, such as names, dates, numbers, and tasks, based on natural language commands. Consider a scenario where a marketer utilizes Teams Phone to explain a new product to a potential customer. Copilot steps in, summarizing the call, capturing the customer’s inquiries regarding product features, benefits, and pricing, enabling the marketer to focus on the pitch while efficiently summarizing the conversation. Furthermore, Copilot records customer feedback and suggests subsequent actions, streamlining the process of crafting a comprehensive follow-up email to address queries raised during the call. Leveraging Copilot during phone calls not only enhances communication skills but also reduces time spent on administrative tasks.
Copilot in Teams Phone supports both VoIP and PSTN calls, ensuring users benefit from real-time summarization and insights, regardless of the call type. This feature is now accessible to customers enrolled in the Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program.
Microsoft Teams Chat
Moving to Copilot in Teams chat, users can swiftly distil essential information from chat threads, enabling them to ask specific questions or employ suggested prompts to comprehend ongoing conversations, organize pivotal discussion points, and efficiently extract relevant information. Imagine a scenario where a global team collaborates on a social media marketing campaign across different time zones via Teams chat. Copilot in Teams chat facilitates the generation of summaries from recent chat conversations within specified timeframes, eliminating the need to navigate through extensive chat threads or request repeated updates.
Analysing chat messages, Copilot highlights crucial points, deadlines, milestones, and individual-specific tasks. Users can further utilize Copilot to extract pertinent data, such as creating tables for roles and responsibilities or identifying dependencies and issues. Additionally, Copilot flags personalized information, like compiling a list of individual action items, allowing users to stay informed without disrupting the team’s flow, thereby saving valuable time for focused work.