{"id":662,"date":"2025-12-10T13:22:42","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T19:22:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/?page_id=662"},"modified":"2025-12-10T13:22:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T19:22:42","slug":"microsoft-copilot","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/microsoft-copilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Copilot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Universities of Wisconsin has access to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/m365.cloud.microsoft\/\">Microsoft Copilot<\/a>&nbsp;as an Enterprise Tool, an AI-powered assistant that helps with various work tasks like writing, research, and brainstorming. With your UW login, you have access to&nbsp;<strong>Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat<\/strong>, which is included with your Microsoft 365 license at no additional cost. This is different from the premium paid version called&nbsp;<strong>Microsoft 365 Copilot<\/strong>&nbsp;($30\/user\/month).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/83\/2025\/11\/Copilot_Differences_Oct2025.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/83\/2025\/11\/Copilot_Differences_Oct2025-300x153.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9077\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat Can Do:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Enterprise data protection<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Your conversations are secure and not used to train AI models. Prompts and responses are protected by the same contractual terms and commitments Microsoft promises to emails in Outlook and files in Teams\/SharePoint.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Web-based research<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Get answers using current information from the internet<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Content assistance<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Help with documents you\u2019re currently working on (you\u2019ll need to copy\/paste content or work within an open file)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Access to advanced AI models<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Powered by OpenAI\u2019s latest language and image-generating technology<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What You Cannot Do, Unless you have a Paid License:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cannot automatically search your emails, OneDrive files, or SharePoint documents<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cannot access your Teams chat history or calendar<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cannot pull information from across your organization\u2019s data without you providing it<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Note: If your role requires AI that can automatically access and search your organizational data (emails, stored documents, Teams conversations), contact the helpdesk about Microsoft 365 Copilot&nbsp;licensing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Getting Started<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Visit\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/m365.cloud.microsoft\/\">copilot.microsoft.com<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click\u00a0<strong>\u201cSign in\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0at the top of the page<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>\u201cSign in with a work or school account\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enter your UW employee email address<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Complete the UW SSO login<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Look for the\u00a0<strong>shield badge<\/strong>\u00a0at the top of the page \u2013 this confirms enterprise data protection is active<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Important Reminders:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat only works with web data<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 If you need it to reference an internal document, you must copy\/paste that content into your prompt<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Think critically<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 AI is a tool to assist you, not replace your judgment or expertise<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Human guidance matters<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Copilot doesn\u2019t replace advisors, mentors, or colleagues<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need More Capabilities?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If your work requires AI that can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Automatically search and summarize your emails<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Find information across your OneDrive and SharePoint files<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Generate PowerPoint presentations from existing documents<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Summarize Teams meetings and conversations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2026you may benefit from Microsoft 365 Copilot&nbsp;(paid version). Contact the helpdesk to discuss your needs and explore licensing options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Understanding the Difference: Free vs. Paid Copilot<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Feature<\/th><th><strong>Microsoft Copilot (Included with your license)<\/strong><\/th><th><strong>Copilot for Microsoft 365 ($30\/month)<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Cost<\/strong><\/td><td>Included with your M365 license<\/td><td>Additional $30\/user\/month<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Data Access<\/strong><\/td><td>Web\/internet information only<\/td><td>Automatic access to your work emails, files, Teams, and calendar<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>How It Works<\/strong><\/td><td>You paste content into chat<\/td><td>It searches your data automatically<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>App Integration<\/strong><\/td><td>Available in apps, works with currently open files<\/td><td>Fully embedded \u2013 can reference any file you have access to<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Email Assistance<\/strong><\/td><td>Can help draft emails you\u2019re writing<\/td><td>Can summarize your email history and find specific messages<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Document Search<\/strong><\/td><td>Cannot search your stored files<\/td><td>Can find and reference documents across OneDrive\/SharePoint<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Teams Integration<\/strong><\/td><td>Cannot access chat history<\/td><td>Can summarize meetings and conversations<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Use Case<\/strong><\/td><td>General writing, research, brainstorming<\/td><td>Knowledge work requiring organizational context<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Data Security<\/strong><\/td><td>Enterprise-grade security<\/td><td>Enterprise-grade security<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Compliance<\/strong><\/td><td>FERPA\/HIPAA compliant infrastructure<\/td><td>FERPA\/HIPAA compliant infrastructure<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Key Difference<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat (free) knows what the internet knows.<\/strong>&nbsp;It\u2019s excellent for general tasks, writing assistance, and web research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Microsoft 365 Copilot (paid) knows what your organization knows.<\/strong>&nbsp;It can automatically search and incorporate your work emails, documents, and conversations into its responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why Both Are Secure<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Both versions operate within UW\u2019s managed Microsoft 365 environment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Your data never leaves the Microsoft 365 tenant<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Uses Microsoft\u2019s Zero Trust security architecture<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your conversations are not used to train AI models<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Complies with FERPA, HIPAA (where applicable), and UW data policies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Subject to the same security rules as Outlook, OneDrive, and SharePoint<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This is fundamentally different from public AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, which don\u2019t operate within UW\u2019s secure infrastructure.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Quick Reference: Test Your Access<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to confirm which version you have? Try one of these:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ask Copilot:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>If you have the free version:<\/strong>\u00a0It will say it cannot access your emails<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>If you have the paid version:<\/strong>\u00a0It will summarize your recent emails<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Questions?<\/strong>&nbsp;Contact the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/uwsa\/ots-helpdesk\/make-a-request\/\">IT helpdesk<\/a>&nbsp;for assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Other Links<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Find out more information at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/ai-at-the-universities-of-wisconsin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AI at the Universities of Wisconsin<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Interested in our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/ai-at-the-universities-of-wisconsin\/aicop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">community of practice<\/a>? Come join us!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Universities of Wisconsin has access to&nbsp;Microsoft Copilot&nbsp;as an Enterprise Tool, an AI-powered assistant that helps with various work tasks like writing, research, and brainstorming. With your UW login, you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6531,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-662","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6531"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":665,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/662\/revisions\/665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/systemwide-it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}