Emails. We all hate them. Managing them is so time-consuming, and some could be answered much quicker by picking up the phone. Between replying to clients, following up on projects and scheduling meetings, hours can be spent inside Outlook each day. Microsoft Copilot can make a huge difference as it integrates with Microsoft Outlook and uses AI to help draft emails, summarise conversations and even organise inboxes.
What is Microsoft Copilot in Outlook?
Microsoft Copilot is an AI-powered assistant built into Micro soft 365 applications including Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook. Within Outlook, Copilot works to help automate repetitive email tasks and therefore improve productivity.
Rather than manually writing emails from scratch, Copilot can generate drafts and even adjust the tone or wording of emails. So no more sending short, snappy replies – just ask Copilot to tone down what you really want to say!
Draft Emails in Seconds
One of the most useful features within Outlook is the ability to create email drafts using simple prompts. Rather than spending hours working out how to reply to an email, you can provide Copilot with some instructions such as:
- “Write a professional follow-up email after the meeting yesterday”
- “Draft a response email to confirm the project deadline”
- “Create a polite reply declining the proposal”
Copilot then generates a full email draft which you can tweak to make it sound more personal before sending. You can also ask for a specific tone of voice, and specify the length of the email you require. This kind of prompt can help teams who are regularly sending customer service replies, internal updates and sales follow-ups.
Summarise Long Email Threads
Have you ever been in a situation where you have opened an email thread consisting of millions of replies, but can never find the important information that you require? Copilot can summarise entire conversations into quick, digestible overviews so you don’t miss anything important. Instead of trawling through every message individually, you can receive a summary from Copilot which gives you: key discussion points, decisions made, and any outstanding actions.
This is so handy if you are returning from annual leave and have been copied into lots of emails, or even just to help catch up after meetings. For businesses who have large internal teams, this can hugely improve efficiency.
Improve Email Quality
Most people spend a lot of time rewriting emails so they are in the correct tone and sound correct to the receiver. Copilot can help refine wording, shorten lengthy messages, and improve clarity before sending. This can really help businesses be consistent in terms of the brand message. Here are just a few examples of how Copilot can help improve email quality:
- It can rewrite informal emails into more professional language
- It can shorten overly detailed responses (for those of us who like to waffle!)
- It can improve grammar & readability
- It can adjust the tone for different audiences
- It can help make messages more concise
Reduce Repetitive Tasks
A huge percentage of work emails are repetitive. For example, booking meetings, project updates, chasing invoices, and much more. Copilot can quickly generate responses based on short prompts & even look at previous context within Outlook. For customer-facing teams, this can hugely improve response times without increasing workload.
Using Copilot for Meeting Preparation
As Outlook is integrated with the wider Microsoft 365 ecosystem, Copilot can also help prepare for meetings. Users can ask Copilot to summarise previous email discussions before a meeting, helping you to quickly refresh your memory and arrive at the meeting prepared.
Organise Your Inbox
Microsoft is continuing to expand Copilot’s inbox management capabilities. Some of the more recent features include AI-assisted inbox organisation, rule creation, and automated email triage. This means that users can spend less time sorting emails, and more time focusing on higher-value work.
As AI functionality develops further, Outlook is becoming increasingly proactive rather than just acting as a traditional email platform. It is worth remembering that Copilot (like any other AI tool) can misunderstand context or generate inaccurate wording. You should always take the time to proofread emails before sending them.
For businesses already using Microsoft 365, integrating Copilot into Outlook is such a simple way to significantly improve productivity. For more information on how we can help with this, get in touch with the team at Reality Solutions today.
*This article contains general information in order to assist all of our customers and is meant for guidance only – there are no guarantees that the information we provide will be suitable for your particular needs. If you require specific assistance, we recommend that you seek professional guidance on your individual circumstances. Reality Solutions are in no way responsible for any loss or damage arising from any information contained within our articles.
