What it does

Copilot in Teams summarises meetings, answers questions about what was said, catches you up on chats and channels, and drafts messages. In meetings it works from the live transcript.

Key facts

• Meeting Copilot needs transcription (or recording) turned on to have anything to reason over.
• There's an "even without transcription" mode during the live meeting, but recap and post-meeting Q&A depend on the transcript being saved.
• It can summarise a busy chat or channel and surface action items and open questions.
• Intelligent recap (AI notes, chapters, mentions) is part of the meeting experience where enabled.

When to use / skip

Meeting recap and catch-up on chat are the standout uses — genuinely time-saving. Skip relying on it for a meeting where nobody turned transcription on; there's nothing for it to read.

Configuration decisions

• Transcription and recording policy — the whole feature hinges on this.
• Retention of transcripts and recaps, which is a compliance conversation.
• Whether Copilot is available in meetings with external participants.

Gotchas

• No transcript, no recap. Users forget to start transcription and then blame Copilot.
• Transcript accuracy drops with strong accents, cross-talk and jargon — the summary inherits those errors.
• Meeting policies and transcription policies are separate levers; both have to line up.

Consultant notes

• Get the transcription policy decision made early — it's as much a works-council and privacy question as a technical one in some regions.
• Default transcription-on is the single biggest driver of meeting Copilot value, and the most likely thing to spook staff. Handle the comms carefully.
• Chat and channel catch-up is underrated; push it in adoption alongside the meeting features everyone fixates on.

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Worth revisiting after the next release wave.