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...

Create avatars from picture or photo is live

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Avatars in Teams is a way to express your presence without turning your camera on in meetings, and it is used when entering a Mesh meeting place. I must admit I du prefer the use of real video, but I do understand the user scenarios where an avatar might come in handy. 

Depending on your preferences, the avatar can be created to your liking, and there are many options to choose from when it comes to skin color, body type, face frame, colors and more. Sometimes, I think there are always too many options, and I never get a result that actually looks like me (if that was my intent).

The avatar feature has been around for a while, but I am obviously not the only one thinking my avatar could and should look more like me. Microsoft has now released a feature that allows you to create an avatar directly from an image (taken when you create the avatar) or by uploading an existing photo. 

The feature seems to be available for most Teams SKU's (Business and E3/E5, even essentials) at this time, and available for both MAC and Windows as long as you are using new Teams client (2.1). You still need 6GB of RAM and a Dual-core processor in order for avatars to be working, 8GB and Quad-core is still recommended for optimal performance. 

I had to give it a test run before writing this post, and the result wasn't that far off the real me. Here is the full user guide, if you want to give it a try: Join a meeting as an avatar.