Microsoft integrated Copilot in Teams to assist you in organizing, summarizing, and following up meetings.

But getting started with Copilot can feel overwhelming.

In this article, we’ll walk you through step-by-step instructions on how to activate and use Copilot for your Teams meetings. Plus, we’ll introduce you to a tool that offers more precise meeting summaries and follow-ups.

How to Activate Copilot in Teams

Activating Copilot in Teams is straightforward but requires a few prerequisites to be in place. Follow these steps to ensure everything is set up correctly:

Step 1: Verify your license

To use Copilot, your organization needs a Microsoft 365 subscription that includes the Copilot feature. This is usually available with Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Premium, or higher. Without this, you won’t be able to activate Copilot. Speak with your IT administrator if you're unsure about your current plan​.

Step 2: Enable meeting transcription or recording

For Copilot to work effectively during your Teams meetings, transcription or recording must be enabled. You can either set this up to start automatically at the beginning of each meeting or enable it manually once the meeting starts. Keep in mind that if your meeting isn’t being recorded or transcribed, Copilot will have limited functionality.

Step 3: Start a meeting and activate Copilot

Once your meeting is live, look for the Copilot icon in the Teams meeting toolbar. Clicking this icon opens Copilot in a side panel. From here, you can send prompts like “Summarize the meeting so far,” “List action items,” or “Highlight disagreements”​. These features allow you to interact with Copilot in real time, making your meetings more organized and efficient.

Step 4: Customize Copilot settings

You can adjust some settings in Copilot depending on your meeting needs. For instance, enabling the "Copilot without transcript" option allows you to use Copilot without recording the meeting, but only during the live session. It won’t be available afterward unless the meeting was transcribed or recorded​.

Step 5: Wrap up with Copilot’s help

As your meeting draws to a close, Copilot will prompt you to wrap up by summarizing key points, identifying next steps, and assigning tasks. This ensures that everyone leaves the meeting with a clear understanding of what’s been discussed and what needs to happen next

How to Leverage Copilot for Your Teams Meetings

Once Copilot is activated in your Teams meeting, you can immediately start using its features to make your meetings more efficient and focused. Here’s how to get the most out of it:

Catch up when joining late

If you join a meeting late, Copilot makes it easy to catch up. It provides a real-time summary of what’s been discussed so far, including key points and action items. Simply click the Copilot icon, and it will summarize everything for you, so you can jump right in without missing important details.

Get real-time insights

During the meeting, Copilot acts as a smart assistant by offering insights based on the conversation. You can prompt Copilot to list unresolved questions, highlight areas of agreement or disagreement, and even suggest follow-up questions to keep the discussion productive​. These features make it easier to ensure that all critical points are covered before the meeting ends.

Use prompts to stay organized

One of Copilot’s most useful features is its ability to respond to prompts in real time. You can ask Copilot to recap the meeting so far, list action items, or create a table with pros and cons discussed. This allows you to stay organized and keep the meeting moving efficiently. With a single click, you can also access a list of more prompts if you're not sure what to ask

Assign tasks and set next steps

As the meeting wraps up, Copilot helps you make sure everyone leaves with clear action items. You can ask Copilot to identify the tasks that were assigned during the meeting and who is responsible for them. It even suggests next steps, helping your team stay aligned and focused on follow-ups​

Follow up after the meeting

After the meeting, Copilot continues to be useful by providing a detailed recap of the discussion, including action items and any unresolved topics. You can access this information through the Recap tab in Teams, ensuring that nothing is forgotten

Get more intelligence from your teams meetings : Noota

While Copilot is a powerful tool for summarizing meetings, Noota takes your meeting data to the next level. By seamlessly integrating with Microsoft Teams, Noota enables you to record, transcribe, and generate structured meeting summaries with more accuracy and customization :

• Automatic Recording and Transcription : Noota connects directly to your Teams calendar, allowing it to automatically record and transcribe every meeting.
• More Accurate Meeting Minutes : While Copilot gives you general summaries, Noota generates more precise and structured meeting minutes. It identifies key points of discussion, categorizes them, and ensures nothing is missed.
• Customizable Meeting Summaries
  One of Noota’s standout features is the ability to tailor your meeting summaries. You can customize the output based on your specific use case (Job Interviews, Team Meetings, Board Meetings...)‍
• Searchable Meeting Archives
  Every meeting recorded and transcribed by Noota is saved in an easily searchable archive. You can quickly locate past meetings, find specific quotes, and review critical decisions. This helps when you need to revisit older meetings or provide documentation for compliance or internal reviews.‍
• Improved Collaboration and Follow-Up
  After the meeting, Noota makes it easy to distribute action items and follow-up tasks. You can share the transcribed minutes with your team, ensuring everyone is on the same page and no detail is overlooked. Noota’s summaries are structured and easy to digest, making collaboration more efficient​

Want to ensure your Teams meetings are not only productive in real-time but also well-documented and actionable afterward? Try Noota for free.