1. Introduction to M365 Copilot
M365 Copilot is Microsoft’s AI tool that is part of the Microsoft 365 suite. This suite includes apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. M365 Copilot helps you work more productively by doing tasks like summarising documents, drafting emails, and creating presentations.
Think of it as a smart digital assistant that uses generative AI to give you personalised help based on what you need. This means you can focus on more important tasks. M365 Copilot fits easily into your daily work.
If you are interested in comparing the capabilities of M365 Copilot with those of M365 Copilot Chat, we recommend reading the dedicated article that outlines the unique features of M365 Copilot Chat. Follow this link to access more information on M365 Copilot Chat.
It is organisations’ responsibility to ensure that their users understand and accept the M365 Copilot Acceptable Use Policy.
This can be found here: Acceptable Use Policy, Importantly users need to be aware that they must not use M365 Copilot in clinical scenarios: M365 Copilot is strictly for administrative and business support purposes. It must not be used for any clinical activity, including informing or supporting clinical decision-making, direct patient care, or any activity requiring clinical judgement. Users must not request, generate, or act upon M365 Copilot outputs in any clinical context.
2. Features of M365 Copilot
- Summarise lengthy documents and reports
- Create detailed presentations quickly
- Automate repetitive tasks like email drafting and meeting scheduling
- Get proactive suggestions while working in familiar apps
Assist – Functions used in M365 Copilot, Teams, and Outlook to:
- Assist users throughout your day, helping to keep them updated on the status of their team, work, and schedule
- Prioritise events based on the role, past attendance, and agenda
Ideate – Functions used in Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint to:
- Generate new ideas and solutions
- Create an initial draft in PowerPoint, Word Doc, and Outlook
- Gain guidance on grammar, stylistic approach, and tonality
Evaluate – Functions used in Word and Excel to:
- Evaluate existing materials to ensure users have met their objectives and have clearly articulated intent
- Create charts, tables, and dashboards based on input and analyse data and generate insights
Transcribe – Functions used in Teams and Outlook to:
- Transcribe meetings, automatically offering updates on what users may have missed, outlining key meeting notes, and recording any action items that were assigned
- Capture information accurately from discussions or data inputs
Summarise – Functions used in Teams, Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint to:
- Summarise documents, email chains, and Teams meetings to prepare users and their team members for future collaboration.
- List out key points and action items from in-progress meetings.
To read about the M365 Copilot prerequisites, and onboarding process, please follow this link to access the ‘Onboarding to M365 Copilot’ article.
3. Service Desk Support & Learning
You can contact the helpdesk if you have any technical, licensing or security issues. The below table provides some examples of queries you might have and the support avenue you should take to resolve.
| Query Type | Example | Support Avenue |
| ‘How-to’ Queries | How to use features of M365 Copilot | For more information on how to use M365 Copilot, please follow this link to explore the self-led learning on Viva Learning |
| Prompt Queries | How to prompt M365 Copilot | |
| Functionality Limitation | M365 Copilot functionality that is not available | |
| Functionality Issues | Issues with M365 Copilot features | · Please contact your local IT Team in the first instance.
· Follow this link to find your Local Administrator. · If they’re unable to resolve your issue, you can contact the national helpdesk via this link |
| Technical Issues | M365 Copilot tools not working as expected | |
| Licensing Issues | Issues with licences being assigned incorrectly | |
| Security | Concerns about data access, privacy or permissions |
For any guidance on how to use M365 Copilot and help with prompting, please explore the Getting Started Guides on Viva Learning.
4. Find out more
- For more information on M365 Copilot onboarding, follow this link.
- For any M365 Copilot FAQs, follow this link.
| Last Reviewed Date | 08/08/2025 |
