Microsoft 365 Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is an AI (Artificial Intelligence) assistant, which can help save time on tasks by helping to create reports, find answers for simple or complex questions, summarising documents and emails and even analysing spreadsheets and generating insights from data. 

While we want you to make the most of the tools we provide for you, there are a couple of points to note:

 (i) You must read and follow the Council’s AI Policy before using any AI tool.

 (ii) You must check the results you get from Copilot for accuracy and completeness before relying on them. Copilot, like all AI, has the potential to get things wrong. If Copilot makes a mistake which you include in your own work than any liability arising from the error resides with you, not Copilot. 

Copilot comes in two different versions: Copilot Chat which is available to all network users and M365 Copilot, which requires an additional licence to be purchased. The main differences in the assistance these versions of Copilot can provide are summarised in the table below. 

Copilot Chat

Copilot Chat is available to all network users and can be accessed via the M365 Homepage or from the button in the Teams left hand menu. 

What can Copilot Chat do ?

• Answer Questions – From simple facts to complex explanations
• Generate Content – Emails, reports, summaries, creative writing and more
• Assist with Productivity – Task lists, project planning
• Help with Technical Tasks – Code snippets, trouble shooting, data analysis
• Provide Insights – Research, trends and recommendations

How to Use Copilot Chat

1. Open up Chat – from either the M365 Homepage or the button in Teams
2. Start a Conversation – Just type your questions or request in plain language, which is referred to as a “prompt”. For example “In no more than 500 words and without using jargon, produce a bullet-point list of 6 strengths and 6 weaknesses of Electric Vehicles (EVs) relative to traditional internal combustion vehicles”. Its first source of information to generate a response is data publicly available on the internet. Although it’s important to note the questions you can ask Copilot, and the detail and sophistication of the responses it gives, go far beyond a simple Google search. 
3. Be Specific – The more detail you provide, the better the response
4. Iterate – You can refine or expand the conversation anytime

M365 Copilot

In contrast, the fully licensed version of M365 Copilot integrates with the main M365 apps (Word, Excel, etc), which allows for full interaction with any data we have stored on M365. Examples of features that M365 Copilot has which Copilot Chat does not:

1. ability to provide answers “grounded” (i.e. based) on work data, Example: for the prompt: “What is Argyll and Bute Council’s approach to graffiti ?” – Using Copilot Chat it will only provide a response based on information the council has published on the web. Whereas using M365 Copilot the answer will be based on information Copilot finds on the web, but also in the use’s email, on Sharepoint sites and Teams channels that user has access to, etc.
2. M365 Copilot is available inside MS Office apps. Example: to get help creating an Excel formula, with M365 Copilot it can help you without you having to leave Excel. Whereas with Copilot Chat you would have to open a separate Copilot Chat window, explain the formula you need in plain English, and then copy and paste Copilot’s generated formula back over into Excel.
3. M365 Chat can see and interact with activites in a Team meeting or chat thread in ways Copilot Chat cannot. Example: in a chat thread you could prompt M365 Copilot: “Read the last 14 days of this chat and summarise as bullet point actions for named individuals”
4. With a M365Copilot license that user has access to “Facilitator” which is an interactive AI agent sitting in the meeting. Facilitator can provide a more structures meeting summary than the standard Teams meeting notes, with actions allocated to specific users, etc.
5. Email drafting and summarisation. Similar to the MS Office application integrations at (2) with M365 Copilot the users has access to Copilot directly inside Outlook while replying to an email, although it can’t do that without some guidance. But it will ask you to provide the following framework and then it will use that to provide a first draft of an email reply for you to tweak:

• • Who the email is for (recipient or audience)
  • Purpose of the email
  • Key points or details to include
  • Desired tone (formal, professional, friendly, persuasive, etc.)
  • Any action you want the recipient to take
  • Any deadlines or important dates

Reallocation of Licences

In order to ensure optimum benefit from the council’s expenditure on the additional M365 Copilot licences, the use of these licences will be monitored on a regular basis and any under-utilised licences may be removed from the individuals to which they are assigned and returned to the central pool, ready for more productive re-allocation.

What Other Help is Available

• Chat Foundation Information
• M365 Skills Hub
• Your local Digital Champion
• Chat Prompt Gallery

Prompt Cheat Sheets

The cheat sheets below can provide some ideas of what Copilot chat could be used for in various teams across the Council.

• Adult Social Care
• Senior Leaders and PAs
• Communications Team
• Contact Centre
• Child Social Care
• Education
• Environmental Health
• Finance
• Governance
• HR
• Housing
• ICT
• Legal
• Planning
• Transport & Highways

Issues and support

There is a whole range of guidance and support videos available on M365 Skills Hub or the Microsoft training website. If you have any questions on the use of Microsoft apps please contact the digital champion for your service area. 

For technical questions or if you still have issues or need support please contact the ICT Service Desk.

Phone: 01546 604060

Email: servicedesk@argyll-bute.gov.uk

Accessibility

If you are using Copilot to help  you create documents that are going to be published online, or shared with customers or partners, please remember that all documents must meet accessibility standards. Please make sure your documents have been checked to meet these standards before you publish them – Read more about accessibility guidelines.

If you have any queries about accessible documents please contact the Web Team.

Email: website@argyll-bute.gov.uk