Microsoft Teams Enhancements: Introduction of AI Copilot in Teams Phone and Chat

On July 18, 2023, Microsoft announced at the Microsoft Inspire conference, the introduction of Microsoft 365 Copilot in Teams Phone and Teams Chat. The announcement marks a significant step forward in Microsoft's vision of integrating communication and collaboration with AI.

Copilot in Teams Phone

The Microsoft 365 Copilot feature for Teams Phone integrates AI capabilities to provide real-time summarization and insights for phone calls made and received through the Teams app. It is the first UCaaS solution to add generative AI to phone calls.

The Copilot can draft notes, highlight key points and follow up on action items during the call using natural language commands. It supports both VoIP and PSTN calls. For example, during a product pitch, Copilot summarizes the call, captures relevant questions and suggests next steps based on the customer's feedback.

This feature is available to customers participating in the Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program.

Copilot in Teams Chat

The Microsoft 365 Copilot for Teams Chat allows users to synthesize key information from their chat threads. It can generate a summary of the conversation, organize key discussion points, and summarize information relevant to the user, reducing the effort of managing different chats.

An example use-case is for a team working across different time zones. With Copilot, a user can generate a summary of the chat conversation over a specified time period, extracting key points, action items, deadlines, and other relevant information without having to scroll through long chat threads.

This feature is also available to customers participating in the Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program.

Future Development

Microsoft plans to continue innovating and adding new features to the AI Copilot for Microsoft Teams, aiming to make communication and collaboration smarter and easier, and reducing information overload with the help of AI.

For more information about these updates, view the on-demand content from the Microsoft Inspire conference: "Accelerating business growth with Microsoft Teams" and "Enable AI-powered flexible workplaces with Teams (Phone, Rooms, & Premium)".

For an in-depth look at how Copilot in Teams Meetings, Phone, and Chat work, check out the episode of Inside Microsoft Teams with the lead product managers responsible for building each experience. For a complete view of all the Microsoft Teams announcements made at Inspire, refer to the "What’s New in Teams | Microsoft Inspire 2023 edition".