What is Microsoft 365 Copilot?
Microsoft 365 Copilot is a new feature that makes it faster and easier to create and edit documents. It uses artificial intelligence to analyse your document and suggest relevant content, formatting, and design options. You can also use voice commands to dictate, format, and edit your document with natural language.
Why is Document Classification important?
Document Classification assigns a category or a label to your document based on its content, purpose, and audience. For example, you can classify your document as a report, a proposal, a memo, a newsletter, etc. Document Classification helps Microsoft 365 Copilot understand your document’s context and goal and provide you with more relevant and accurate suggestions. It also helps you organise your documents and find them easily.
Usually, organisations store their documentation in a single SharePoint location. As the business expands, the data grows, but the access is typically not reviewed. As a result, staff get access to more information assets than they need. Microsoft 365 Copilot follows the access controls you set up. However, without classification or good access controls, it is easy for a staff member to find data that is not related to them.
For example, an employee runs the following search: “I am looking for spreadsheets containing financial data”. The image example below shows how five spreadsheets that fit the query were found in just 10 seconds. The green shield at the bottom right indicates that the documents have been classified, and Microsoft 365 Copilot will respect this classification when making new content. For instance, a document created with “Confidential” information will have the same classification as the document generated.
Classifying documents with sensitivity labels
Sensitivity labels are a way to categorise your documents and add context and metadata. Sensitivity labels are tags that you can use on your documents to show their level of confidentiality and protection. For example, you can use a label such as “Confidential” or “Public” on your documents to indicate who can access and share them. You can also use labels that have encryption, watermarks, headers, footers, and more.
Sensitivity labels are useful for several reasons. Firstly, they help you follow your organisation’s rules and standards for data security and privacy. Secondly, they help you secure your sensitive information from unauthorised access, leakage, or loss. Thirdly, they help you work with others safely and securely, as you can control who can view, edit, copy, print, or forward your documents. Finally, they help Microsoft 365 Copilot to give you better and more relevant suggestions, as it can analyse your documents based on their sensitivity and context.
How to deploy Microsoft 365 Copilot
Before deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot, you should ensure all your documents are classified, and data access is checked. After you have sorted your documents, you can use Microsoft 365 Copilot to make and edit them. To use Microsoft 365 Copilot, you need a Microsoft 365 subscription and a compatible device. You can give your subscription to your selected staff members. When the licence is issued, Microsoft 365 Copilot will appear in applications. However, at the time of writing, the Outlook classic application does not support it yet.
Conclusion
Microsoft 365 Copilot is a powerful feature that can help you create and edit documents faster and easier. However, to get the most out of Microsoft 365 Copilot, you must classify your documents and provide the necessary context and metadata. By doing so, you can optimise your experience with Microsoft 365 Copilot and ensure that you get relevant and accurate suggestions. You can also use voice commands to interact with Microsoft 365 Copilot and save time and effort.
We hope this guide has helped you understand the importance of document classification and how to prepare your documents for Microsoft 365 Copilot.
We can help you set up sensitivity labelling, Microsoft 365 Copilot and any other aspects of your Microsoft 365 configuration. Contact us if you need any assistance or want to subscribe to Microsoft 365 Copilot.