Teams Premium vs Copilot: Which assistant should you choose?

Teams Premium and Microsoft 365 Copilot might appear to be two seemingly redundant services, as both offer AI-based features designed to assist employees in their daily tasks on Microsoft’s communication platform. However, this overlap may be more superficial than it seems, and the two services could potentially work best when used in combination. In this article, we’ll shed light on the issue by diving deeper into the features of both Copilot in Teams and Teams Premium, comparing them to determine which one better suits your business needs.

Teams Premium vs Copilot: a brief introduction

Microsoft has always been a company focused on developing new technologies and software solutions, integrating and reinterpreting them within its products since the early iterations of DOS more than thirty years ago.

With the rise of artificial intelligence in the past three years, things have not changed. The Redmond giant quickly jumped on the AI bandwagon with the aim of leading this rapid race in the development of Gen AI assistants for the workplace. Its strategy? To integrate this revolutionary technology as much as possible into its classic suite of business software, exponentially boosting the productivity of users who rely on these tools daily.

However, Microsoft’s relentless efforts to expand and improve its software with cutting-edge technologies often result in confusion among less attentive users. Faced with seemingly similar offerings, they may struggle to identify the subtle differences and determine which solution best suits their needs.

This is the case with Teams Premium—an add-on for Microsoft Teams featuring integrated AI functionalities—and Copilot, Microsoft's AI digital assistant that, among its numerous integrations, includes support for the aforementioned Teams platform.

To clarify these differences, the following sections will compare these two Microsoft offerings for Teams and help determine which is the better solution for your business.

What are Copilot and Microsoft Teams?

Before diving into our comparison, let’s take a moment to catch up and introduce the two tools with a brief overview.

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is an AI-powered digital assistant designed to simplify users’ daily tasks, boost productivity, and inspire creativity. Its primary goals include code generation, writing assistance, and collaboration. Seamlessly integrated into popular Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, Copilot provides contextual suggestions and helps users efficiently process information.

Powered by the state-of-the-art GPT-4 language model, Microsoft Copilot boasts impressive features like code auto-completion, documentation search, and collaborative writing. Microsoft continues to enhance Copilot with new functionalities, showcasing Redmond’s substantial investment in this generative AI solution for its business-focused products.

The AI assistant caters to a wide range of users, including developers, content creators, and professionals seeking AI-driven assistance in their tasks.

The main ways to leverage Microsoft Copilot include:

• Adopting Copilot: Microsoft offers various Copilot assistants to enhance productivity and creativity. Integrated across numerous Microsoft products and platforms, Copilot transforms the digital workspace into a more interactive and efficient environment.
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• Extending Copilot: Developers can incorporate external data, simplifying user operations and reducing context-switching. This improves productivity and fosters greater collaboration by seamlessly integrating such data into everyday Microsoft products.
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• Building your Copilot: Beyond adoption and extension, users can create a customized Copilot for a unique conversational experience using Azure OpenAI, Cognitive Search, Microsoft Copilot Studio, and other Microsoft Cloud technologies. A tailored Copilot can integrate business data, access external data in real-time via APIs, and integrate into enterprise applications.

Microsoft Copilot is available in various forms, with specific pricing packages tailored to different use cases, such as:

• Copilot (Free): The free version offers generative AI capabilities for PC management (in Windows), online search (in Edge), and general chatbot conversations on the web.
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• Copilot Pro: Geared towards individual users, Copilot Pro costs around $20 per month per user and provides access to Copilot across tools like Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
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• Copilot for Microsoft 365: Designed for individuals and teams working with Microsoft apps, this version includes access to Copilot Studio, enterprise-grade security, privacy, compliance, and advanced capabilities.

Additionally, various Copilot versions are tailored for specific Microsoft tools. For example, Copilot solutions are integrated into Microsoft Dynamics for sales and customer service teams, as well as into Microsoft Purview for security purposes.

Recently, Microsoft has also introduced and updated several “agents” for specific business sectors such as finance, customer service, and marketing, equipped with specialized training and features for these domains.

Although initially met with skepticism by many Windows 11 users, Copilot has significantly evolved since its preview, becoming one of the top productivity tools in the era of artificial intelligence.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a collaboration and communication platform primarily designed for workplace environments, aimed at facilitating teamwork and communication.

Launched in 2017 as part of the Microsoft 365 suite, Teams integrates various tools and features that simplify team workflows. It enables users to organize and join meetings, send instant messages, make video calls, and share files within a shared workspace, all accessible through a unified interface. Its features include chat, video calls, and a dedicated files section, making it a comprehensive solution for team collaboration.

One of Teams’ key aspects is the ability to create channels for various projects or departments, enabling discussions and resources to be organized thematically. Each channel represents a workspace dedicated to a specific topic and can include chats, files, and app integrations tailored to that context. Users can customize each channel by adding integrations with external or Microsoft 365 apps such as Excel, SharePoint, and OneNote to streamline collaboration and project management.

Microsoft Teams stands out for its strong integration with other Microsoft applications, allowing users to view, edit, and collaborate on files directly within the platform. This unified approach reduces the need to switch between separate applications, enhancing productivity and making Teams an effective tool for managing communication and workflows within an organization.

Microsoft Teams has experienced widespread adoption in recent years. Nearly two-thirds of companies use Teams, according to the "Workplace Collaboration MetriCast: 2023" report by Metrigy, which surveyed over 1,400 organizations. Teams is also the most widely adopted app for group messaging and video meetings.

Teams Premium vs Copilot: features of the two services

Let’s move past the introductions and dive into the core of this article: Teams Premium and Copilot in Teams. In this section, we will provide an overview of both tools and their key features to understand how they function individually.

Microsoft Teams Premium

Microsoft Teams Premium is an add-on license offering several advanced features that enhance the core functionalities of Teams. Key features include:

• Customizable meetings: Organizations can personalize meetings with branding elements and predefined templates, aligning with their visual identity and organizational needs.
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• Real-time captions with translation: Teams Premium enables real-time captions during meetings, including automatic translation, to facilitate understanding among participants speaking different languages.
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• Advanced moderator controls: Meeting moderators can better manage content sharing, ensuring secure and controlled distribution of information.
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• Meeting attendance reports: Generate detailed participation reports, providing an accurate analysis of attendee engagement.
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• Bandwidth optimization for large-scale meetings: With support for enterprise content delivery networking (eCDN), Teams Premium optimizes bandwidth during high-attendance meetings, such as company-wide assemblies, ensuring a smooth broadcast.
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• Advanced webinar features: Offers specific tools for managing webinars, including participant management and detailed reporting capabilities.
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• Support for larger audiences in corporate events: Allows organizations to host events, such as corporate assemblies, with a larger audience compared to the standard version of Teams.

AI-powered Features in Microsoft Teams Premium

Teams Premium leverages OpenAI's GPT-3.5 language model to introduce AI-powered capabilities in meetings. These include:

• Meeting summaries: AI automatically generates summaries of discussion points covered during meetings, making it easier to review and share information.
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• AI-generated action items: At the end of meetings, Teams Premium identifies and suggests actionable tasks to ensure nothing important is overlooked.
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• Real-time translation of captions and transcripts: During meetings, AI provides automatic translations for captions and transcripts, facilitating communication among participants speaking different languages.

Licensing and Pricing

To access Teams Premium, an organization must hold a commercial, government, or non-profit Teams license. Teams Premium can be purchased as an add-on at a cost of approximately $10 per user per month.

Copilot in Microsoft Teams

Copilot for Microsoft Teams is included as part of the Copilot license for Microsoft 365. It leverages generative AI to enhance the meeting experience on Teams.

Copilot offers some of its most exciting features on Microsoft Teams, allowing users to retrieve shared information, use it to create new content, organize tasks, and quickly summarize all ongoing business activities.

Smart meeting summary

With the introduction of Copilot, it is now possible to access a meeting summary generated by Microsoft’s AI, based on what was said during the meeting. At the end of the session, Copilot creates a summary that includes:

• Meeting recording
• Timeline, highlighting participant contributions
• Summary of what was discussed by participants and written in the chat
• Shared notes and tasks to be scheduled

Users can ask questions and make requests about the content in all languages supported by Copilot, receiving direct conversational responses while pinpointing the exact part of the transcript from which the AI derived the information.

It is important to note that the summary feature is available even for unscheduled calendar meetings, provided they were recorded or the transcription feature was enabled. However, the smart summary in Teams is only visible if the meeting was created by oneself or a colleague within the same Microsoft 365 tenant. If invited by an external user, the summary will not be available.

Copilot as an assistant during Teams meetings

Microsoft 365 Copilot also provides support during meetings via a dedicated chat, where users can make real-time requests. This enables users to:

• Generate content to share live
• Draft a list of tasks
• Simultaneously translate discussions
• Ask Copilot to remember a topic mentioned during the meeting

Additionally, for latecomers to a meeting, Copilot’s ability to provide a summary of what has been discussed proves highly beneficial, saving time and avoiding unnecessary repetitions.

Information retrieval

Users with access to Copilot can request information shared in private 1-on-1 or group chats. For those using Teams to communicate with colleagues, Copilot offers significant advantages by eliminating the need to manually search for shared information within Teams chats. By opening Copilot, users can ask the AI to retrieve specific content shared in chats, without the need for manual searches.

Teams Premium vs Copilot: a comparison

On the surface, Teams Copilot and Teams Premium present some key differences as well as areas of overlap. For instance, the intelligent meeting recap feature in Teams Premium is also available as part of the Copilot license for Microsoft 365. However, other Teams Premium features related to meetings, webinars, and large corporate events are exclusive to Teams Premium and not available with Copilot.

The best way to understand the difference is to consider that Copilot for Teams primarily offers individual productivity enhancement features, whereas Teams Premium includes a range of tools for branding, management, and analytics for both individual users and administrators.

For example, Copilot's summarization and synthesis capabilities for meetings and chats help individuals stay engaged during meetings and conversations, as well as quickly catch up on what they might have missed. Copilot also facilitates the creation of actionable content from chats and meetings, such as tasks, summaries, and next-step suggestions.

As part of the broader set of Copilot features for Microsoft 365, those with access to Copilot can leverage its capabilities across the entire Microsoft 365 application portfolio. This includes, for example, assistance in drafting emails in Outlook, automatically generating a PowerPoint presentation based on content from an Excel spreadsheet, and creating summaries in Microsoft Loop.

Teams Premium's features go far beyond individual productivity, offering a wide range of management options for webinars and large events. These include tools for branding, access management, and optimizing content delivery.

Teams Premium vs Copilot: Which assistant to choose?

Although Teams Premium and Copilot share some overlap in terms of intelligent meeting summaries, they are distinct products with different use cases. Teams Premium and Copilot for Teams are neither mutually exclusive nor interdependent. Instead, IT leaders should evaluate each separately and acquire licenses deemed appropriate and justifiable for their employees.

For those looking to use generative AI to enhance productivity across the Microsoft 365 suite, Copilot is the ideal solution. Its capabilities can save time in managing meetings and chats while offering significant benefits by accelerating content creation.

On the other hand, Teams Premium provides features for scalability, branding, and management, making it appealing for hosting large-scale events and external-facing webinars. It is expected that Teams Premium will primarily be adopted by event administrators and those who frequently share content externally, such as sales teams, to differentiate the user experience through enhanced branding in meetings.

Ultimately, the decision to implement Teams Premium or Copilot for Teams will come down to considerations of cost and demonstrable value. Among the nearly 400 participants in Metrigy's "Unified Communications as a Service TCO: 2023" study, about 86% plan to purchase licenses for virtual assistants or generative AI-based copilots for at least some employees. However, willingness to adopt these tools is directly tied to the cost of the licenses. To understand the value these two additional Teams options can offer, small-scale pilot projects are recommended to measure results.

Conclusions

As we have seen in the previous sections, the similarities between these two services are superficial, and Teams Premium and Copilot, despite these marginal overlaps, couldn’t be more different.

Choosing between one solution or the other is therefore a matter of specific organizational needs, and in some cases, companies might even decide to adopt both solutions in combination, leveraging their distinct functionalities to significantly extend the features and capabilities of their communication platforms.

In the end, the best course of action is to reflect on which of the two solutions (or both, if preferred) is the most suitable for your organization, carefully evaluating your needs and determining which tool can best meet them. No matter your choice, you can always rely on the quality, reliability, and security of Microsoft products.

FAQ on Teams Premium vs Copilot

What is Microsoft Teams Premium?

‍Microsoft Teams Premium is an advanced subscription tier for Microsoft Teams. It enhances collaboration and meeting features with tools like meeting templates, advanced webinar functionalities, and more personalized branding. It also includes advanced security measures, such as watermarking and end-to-end encryption, making it suitable for organizations with heightened security needs.

What is Microsoft Copilot in Teams?

‍Microsoft Copilot in Teams is an AI-powered tool that integrates with Microsoft 365 to assist users by generating summaries, automating repetitive tasks, and improving productivity. It leverages GPT technology to analyze data and provide insights directly within Teams, enabling faster decision-making and smarter collaboration.

How does Teams Premium differ from Copilot?

‍Teams Premium is focused on enhancing the overall experience within Teams by adding advanced features and customizations. In contrast, Copilot focuses on AI-driven assistance to streamline tasks and workflows. While Premium upgrades Teams with functional enhancements, Copilot empowers users to work more efficiently by automating and simplifying complex tasks.

Do Teams Premium and Copilot work together?

‍Yes, Teams Premium and Copilot can be used together. Teams Premium enhances the platform with advanced features, while Copilot utilizes AI to optimize how users interact with these features. Combining them can result in a more personalized and productive Teams experience.

Is Microsoft Copilot included in Teams Premium?

‍No, Microsoft Copilot is not included in Teams Premium by default. Copilot requires a separate license and subscription. Teams Premium focuses on feature upgrades, while Copilot is an AI add-on designed to improve productivity.

Can Microsoft Copilot function without Teams Premium?

‍Yes, Microsoft Copilot can be used without Teams Premium. However, the functionalities of Copilot are enhanced when paired with Teams Premium’s advanced features, as it can provide AI-driven insights on the additional data and tools available in Premium.

Is there an additional cost for Teams Premium or Copilot?

‍Both Teams Premium and Copilot require separate subscriptions, each with its own pricing structure. Organizations should evaluate their needs and consider the potential return on investment for both services to determine their suitability.

How do I decide between Teams Premium and Copilot?

‍The decision depends on your organization’s priorities. If your focus is on improving meeting experiences and adding security features, Teams Premium is the right choice. If your goal is to leverage AI for productivity and task management, then Copilot is the better option. Organizations often find value in using both together for a comprehensive solution.

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