Four Microsoft 365 Copilot Features That Will Make Your Workflow Easier

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Microsoft has announced four Copilot updates, some already live or in preview, others rolling out soon, that are designed to simplify tasks, improve control, and boost productivity. These enhancements include smarter content referencing, flexible reasoning modes, customizable response scoping, and integrated meeting scheduling. Timelines may change, so keep an eye on official updates.  Copilot Chat Enhancements: Reference Files and Emails Easily Copilot Chat for users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license is being enhanced by introducing quick access to emails directly in prompts. By typing “/” in the prompt box, users can search and reference relevant content without manual uploads, improving prompt quality and Copilot responses. Suggested prompts beneath the input box will also include relevant files or emails for faster starts. This capability will surely reduce friction and ensure responses are grounded in the right context (Also now known as ContextIQ). This update is associate...

Microsoft has started to disable Basic Authentication (affecting Teams and Exchange Online)

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 Microsoft is serious about removing the Basic Authentication protocols from their services. The change was announced back in 2019, but has been delayed a couple of times. Earlier this fall Microsoft announced there would be on further delays, and that preparations for the change should be made.

Earlier this week I was notified about the coming change to my tenant through the Admin Message Center. 14 days from now, basic authentication will no longer be available to me: 

"14 days from today we're going to turn off Basic Authentication for POP3, IMAP4, Remote PowerShell, Exchange Web Services, Offline Address Book, MAPI, RPC and Exchange ActiveSync protocol in your tenant, and will also disable SMTP AUTH completely. Note: Based on our telemetry, no users in your tenant are currently using Basic Authentication with those protocols and so we expect there to be no impact to you."

This coming change can have a major impact on many organizations. As a consultant I am engaged in multiple companies facing the challenge of preparing for this change. It might seem trivial, but most organization have over time implemented many services that are using basic authentication without being aware of them. The best way of preparing for this is by starting to go through your sign-in logs in Azure AD and identify any user who use basic Authentication. Some of the things I have noticed are using basic authentication are: Many services reading calendar information (like switchboard integrations), printer services, old mobile devices (often up to date, but wrong configuration), Microsoft Teams Rooms not set up for modern authentication, 3rd party and self developed applications.

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