Making Microsoft 365 Smarter with Cortana

With the waves of Covid-19 pandemic forcing a switch to Remote Working, everyone could use an assistant to stay caught up with responsibilities at work. That is where Cortana, your personal productivity assistant in Microsoft 365, makes it easier to focus on what matters most. 

In the Cortana Enterprise Services, the assistant is designed to deliver specific features that safely and securely process user data like emails, files, chats, etc., to increase efficiency and enhance user experience. Like that of the Microsoft 365 Enterprise, the Cortana Enterprise Services also meet the same Enterprise-level security, privacy, and compliances as that in the Exchange Online Protection. The data collected by Cortana Enterprise Services is a text representation of user's spoken queries. This data is only used to develop and improve machine learning for better results. 

Cortana in Windows 10 

The Cortana application in the Windows 10 version 2004 and later is a chat application with your personal productivity assistant. This application helps users to quickly get information across the Microsoft 365 platform by just using simply typed or spoken Keywords in queries. 

Cortana in Windows 10 can be helpful by assisting users in better managing their calendars, reminders, tasks and even adding to the Microsoft To-Do list. Being a part of the Enterprise Services, the Cortana in Windows 10 comes with a tetra level security filtration like that of Microsoft Defender for Windows 10 Enterprise and Exchange Online Protection. 

Configure Cortana in Windows 10- Admins can configure Cortana in Windows 10 for their organization using the Experience\AllowCortana MDM (Mobile Device Management) policy or via the Group Policy: Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Search\Allow Cortana.

Cortana in Microsoft Teams

Cortana can also be configured and used in Microsoft Teams mobile app or even on Microsoft Teams display devices. This feature enables the Microsoft 365 Enterprise users to streamline communication between employees, collaboration, and also meeting related tasks. To use the feature, users have to speak to Cortana by selecting the microphone icon in the Teams app or by calling out the assistant's name. Commands, like calling anyone or sending a message to anyone or even joining any meeting, can be used to increase the user experience. Cortana Voice Commands can also be used to share any file in any chats or even check any calendar events. These Commands and Machine learning security comply with the security services of Microsoft 365. 

By default, every user in the tenant gets a pre-enabled Cortana voice assistant. Admin users can keep a check on which users can use their Cortana voice assistant in Teams. This feature is flexible at the tenant and user level. Admins can configure the Cortana voice activation command or push-button activation for the tenant. 

Users on the other hand have limited access to Cortana flexibility. They can use the Voice assistant in the Teams app by clicking the push button or by calling out the name. Simple commands can be executed for a better user experience. 

Play My Emails

Imagine having JARVIS read your inbound mails. Outlook for Android and iOS is an important application of the Microsoft 365 services. It is an integrated email and calendar application where users can now interact with the inbox using Microsoft AI. Using Cortana and Outlook together in Microsoft 365 brings innovation to the mailbox experience. 

This new feature is optimized for professionals on the move. Play My Emails feature is a seamless experience with large visual voice and touch assets that provide the context of your emails at a glance. This feature is not just any ordinary text to speech but its AI. The technology is used to read your emails, starting with a summary of how many new emails have been delivered to the Focused inbox in the last 24 hours. It also identifies any changes made to the schedule. Not only does it read the email, Cortana understands the importance of the email body content. In case any mail body contains any visual representation, Cortana identifies that the mail is better to read than heard in the Play My Emails feature. In a separate situation where the receiver gets any protected email, Cortana will call out if the mail is protected or marked confidential. After calling out, Cortana briefly pauses to allow users to play or skip the same. 

Information gathered in the user queries and received from Microsoft Graph, Cortana identifies the sender and content of each mail abiding by the set of security protocols in the Microsoft 365 Enterprise Mobility and Security. Cortana identifies if the mail is received in any distribution list or if it is sent by your manager. Cortana synthesizes the information in the mail header and metadata and links them to the insights about you in the Microsoft 365 services. 

Briefing Email

The Briefing email is like any reminder to the daily work routine which helps you to stay in control of your tasks and reminders. Once the work timings are set in Outlook, within two hours you will receive an email about any relevant items to help the improvement or preparation for the day's work. 

The briefing email looks like any ordinary mail from Cortana reminding you of any tasks that need to be checked in the day's progress. These include any outstanding commitments, requests, and follow-ups to and from any user. This feature also includes documents relevant to any meeting for the day. 

Briefing email Configuration can be done as an admin at the user or tenant level. One must be at least Exchange or Global Admin, having access to Exchange Online Services, to configure users for Briefing. To set up the Briefing at the tenant level, the admin user must 

• Visit settings and select Org Setting
• Under Org Settings, select Briefing email (Preview)
• Check or uncheck the box to enable or disable the Briefing for the tenant

To enable or disable the Briefing email for any specific user, the Exchange Online PowerShell V2 module is required and the following steps are required:

Replace the "user@domain.com" with the user-specific username in the command

Set-UserBriefingConfig -Identity user@domain.com [-Enabled [<$true | $false>]

If the Enabled parameter is set to $false, the Briefing is disabled for that user, while $true will set it to enabled. 

For multiple users, the following steps are required:

• Create a .csv file with all users
• List the user principal name for each user
• Set the specified Enabled parameter for each user using the commands

$inFileName="<path and file name of the input .csv file that contains the users, example: C:\admin\Users2Opt-in.csv>"

$outFileName="<path and file name of the output .csv file that records the results, example: C:\admin\Users2Opt-in-Done.csv>"

$briefingEmailMode = $true

$users=Import-Csv $inFileName

ForEach ($user in $users)

{

$user.identity

$upn=$user.identity

Set-UserBriefingConfig –Identity $upn -Enabled $briefingEmailMode

Get-UserBriefingConfig –Identity $upn | Export-Csv $outFileName -Append

}

For Advanced Briefing control visit https://cortana.office.com/