Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat: what it is, key features and differences with Copilot Chat in Edge and on bing.com

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat centralizes conversations, content, and useful information for the individual user, generated from enterprise data.

Let's find out in this article what Copilot Chat is, what its main features are, and how it differs from Chat in Edge and on bing.com.

What is Copilot Chat (formerly Business Chat)

The Microsoft 365 Chat is the new name Microsoft has given to the Copilot chat in Teams. Before the actual launch of Copilot, this chat was called the Microsoft 365 Business Chat.

This is the personal area that every user with Copilot access has to interact privately with Microsoft's AI. Thus, it is the ideal place within the corporate digital workplace where users can generate content and materials useful for their work or to search for information.

For example, the user can use Microsoft 365 Chat to:

• Ask for an update on colleagues' activities
• Make a summary of the most important news and meetings
• Prepare materials to be presented in upcoming meetings
• Quickly retrieve information and business documents

It is important to note that content shared or generated in Copilot Chat remains confined within the Microsoft 365 security perimeter, ensuring maximum privacy of corporate and personal data in compliance with the new "Responsible AI" framework brought forward by Microsoft.

How then to access Microsoft 365 Chat?

You can use one of the following inputs:

• The microsoft365.com website
• The copilot.microsoft.com website
• Microsoft Teams, to make it even easier to collaborate with colleagues

What are the main features of Copilot Chat

With Copilot Chat, users have access to the same functionality offered by Copilot in their work apps. The main difference between Microsoft 365 Chat and Copilot Chat in Word or Outlook, to name a few, lies in the ability to centralize in one place all the content generated or to search from one place for information from the business content we have access to.

However, Copilot Chat has some additional features, which you will find below.

Conversation history

Every conversation is recorded in the Microsoft 365 Chat history. This means that the user can:

• Retrieve requests made to the AI in the past 30 days.
• Generate content based on information shared in past conversations.
• Start a new conversation, unaffected by previously shared information.

To access the history, you need to click on the three dots at the top right of the Copilot Chat command bar and select "Copilot Chat." A list of personal conversations with the AI will then appear, with the option to continue them with new questions or to delete them.

Remember that all conversations you have with Copilot remain private and are never shared with any of your colleagues.

Once corporate permissions are properly configured, Copilot Chat will be able to provide output based solely on the information and documents accessed by the user, thus ensuring maximum security and confidentiality of corporate data.

Content creation

It goes without saying that new content can be generated in Copilot Chat from data stored in Microsoft 365. Each piece of content is enriched by AI insights and attached documents, which the user can access to verify the accuracy of answers.

But Copilot Chat overcomes some important limitations of Copilot in enterprise apps. For example, it manages to integrate the Outlook calendar into its responses, or it is possible to search for content in business documents without having to open the document and without even knowing which document contains the information sought.

The user can thus include his or her availability in the generated emails to optimize the organization of meetings and events. The draft can then be imported with one click into Outlook to be sent immediately.

Two important notes:

1. Copilot can generate output based on the information shared up to a maximum of 30 requests. Beyond this limit, Copilot prompts you to open a new chat.
2. A thorough check of business permissions should be done to prevent Microsoft 365 Chat from generating data-driven content that the user should not have access to.

Information retrieval

Copilot Chat is a powerful tool for saving time in searches and immediately getting a summary of the most relevant business information and events for the user.

One feature that further enhances search in Copilot Chat is mentions. The user can use mentions with the "/" command to guide the AI in retrieving information about:

• A specific person
• A file in the archive
• A meeting in the calendar
• A particular email

Copilot is thus able to provide output based only on the data of interest, citing the exact point from which it took the information. It can also provide updates on a colleague's activities without violating his or her privacy, such as changes made to a document or meetings attended.

The data sources Copilot can access are:

• Personal OneDrive
• Teams groups to which one has access
• The SharePoint sites to which one has access
• The corporate SharePoint intranet
• The emails and events in Outlook

Copilot can respond by taking information not only from corporate content, but also from the knowledge it has internally that was created by Microsoft "training" the AI algorithm in reading lots of information content and books.

You can tell whether Copilot is responding with corporate information or with information it already has internally by the presence or absence of references. If a piece of information was taken from a document, email, or event, Copilot's response will reference that content. Conversely, if Copilot will respond with knowledge it has internally, it will not make any references.

Below, you can find the summary table of the main features of Copilot's Microsoft 365 Chat:

What is the difference between Copilot Chat and the Chat in Edge and on bing.com

The Chat found in Edge or on bing.com allows you to interact with Microsoft's generative AI to get results based on information from the web, within Microsoft Edge or Chrome. If you log in with your work account, it also ensures the privacy of your information, keeping it confined to the corporate security perimeter.

The difference between Edge/bing.com Chat and Copilot Chat thus lies in two features:

1. Content creation
2. Integration with Microsoft 365 apps

While the former offers robust integration with Microsoft Edge and Chrome for processing information from the Web, Copilot Chat integrates with Microsoft 365 apps to work on corporate data.

FAQs about Copilot's Microsoft 365 Chat

What is Microsoft 365 Chat?

Microsoft 365 Chat is the name that Copilot Chat had for a period of time, available in Teams, on microsoft365.com, and on copilot.microsoft.com to users with a valid Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

What is Copilot Chat (formerly Business Chat)?

Copilot Chat is a personal area where users can interact with Microsoft's AI, ideal for generating useful content in the corporate digital workplace or for searching for information from your business data in conversational form.

How do I access Microsoft 365 Chat?

You can access it via Microsoft365.com, via copilot.microsoft.com, or Microsoft Teams, where it is available as a personal app for users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

What are the main features of Copilot Chat?

Copilot Chat offers a conversation history, creation of content based on business data, and quick retrieval of information from business content.

What is the difference between Copilot Chat and the Chat present in Edge or on bing.com?

The Chat in Edge and bing.com is focused on retrieving information conversationally from the web, while Copilot Chat integrates with Microsoft 365 apps to directly manage business data, ensuring greater productivity.

How can I get support for adopting Microsoft 365 Copilot in my company?

You can get support for Copilot adoption by contacting intranet.ai. We offer customized services for migrating data to the Microsoft cloud, security and permissions assessment, user training, and development of extensions to enrich the features of Microsoft 365 Copilot. We also manage a community of practice where you can ask any questions you may have and receive answers from our experts.