Exercise: Update a technical report using Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word
Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word is an AI-powered writing assistant that can help IT professionals create documents more efficiently. When you create a new document or work on an existing one, Copilot in Word can help you in several different ways.
- In a new, blank document or when you want to add content to an existing document, you can tell Copilot what you want to write about, and it generates the content accordingly. For example, you could tell Copilot “Write an essay about the benefits of cloud computing” or “Create a paragraph about the importance of cybersecurity.” If you wish, you can include an almost unlimited number of existing files as inputs to ground the content that Copilot drafts. Copilot also supports uploading files in various formats, including PDFs, Word documents, and Excel spreadsheets, enhancing its versatility in handling diverse content types. Or Copilot can base the new content on public web data.
- If you open an existing document, Copilot can help you transform the content. It can rewrite selected content or even transform selected content into a table.
Overall, Copilot in Word can help IT professionals save time and effort when creating documents. It can help you generate content, rewrite text, and provide helpful suggestions. With its AI-powered writing assistance, Copilot can help you create documents more efficiently and effectively.
In this exercise, you use Copilot in Word to update an existing document that supports Fabrikam's use of Virtual Private Networks. You direct Copilot to add new text, rewrite existing text, and transform text into a table.
Exercise
Fabrikam is interested in implementing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) in its corporate network. To do so, it contracted with Trey Research, one of the nation's most accomplished IT consulting firms, to assist with the implementation. To help get the project started, members of Trey Research's Network Consulting group created a report for Fabrikam's IT staff that provides an overview of VPNs. The purpose of the report is to help educate the Fabrikam project team about VPNs before they begin implementing them.
As the lead consultant for Trey Research, you're in charge of managing the Fabrikam project. Your project team created a report that examines the use of VPNs in corporate networks. It's your job to present this report to Fabrikam and get them up to speed on the specifics of implementing VPNs. However, after reviewing the report, you decide that you want to make some changes to it. While your team's preliminary version was a good start, you felt it was missing some key information. You also want to reformat parts of it to make it easier for Fabrikam to digest. You plan to use Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word to help with this effort. To do so, perform the following steps:
Select the following link to download a copy of the Trey Research - VPN Technical Overview report.
Once the download is complete, move the file from your Downloads folder to your Microsoft - OneDrive folder.
In this exercise, you access the document from the Most Recently Used file list in Word. To get the file to appear in the MRU list, open the document and then close it.
Open your Edge browser (if necessary) and navigate to the Microsoft 365 home page by entering the following URL: https://www.office.com
On the Microsoft 365 home page, select the Word icon in the navigation pane on the left. If the icon doesn't appear, select Apps in the navigation pane, and then select Word from the Apps page.
In Word, scroll down to the list of all files in the MRU list. The All tab is displayed by default. Select the Trey Research - VPN Technical Overview file.
On the Word ribbon, select the Copilot button to open the Copilot pane.
In the Copilot pane, enter the following prompt and then select the Send arrow icon: Write a new section for this document about the types of VPNs. Explain what each VPN type is, how it's typically used, and outline the pros and cons of each type. This content is for a technical audience, so please provide specific details.
As you can see, Copilot doesn't add new content directly into a document. Instead, it displays the content in the Copilot pane. However, it does provide an Insert button at the end of the new content that directs Copilot to insert the new content into the document. However, before selecting this button, it's important to call out that Copilot inserts the content starting where your cursor is located. By default, it inserts it at the top of the document, which isn't what you want. You want this content to be inserted between the opening paragraph and the section titled Pros of implementing VPNs. Insert a couple of carriage returns to place your cursor in between these two points.
Tip
When Copilot inserts content, it takes on the formatting assigned to the current location of the cursor. When you place your cursor at the location you want the content to be inserted, select the Normal style.
You're now ready to insert the content, so select the Insert button. Note how the content is added to the document. You see that the Types of VPNs heading is formatted as a Heading 3, while the other section headings are a Heading 2. For consistency's sake, select the Types of VPNs heading and then select the Heading 2 button on the menu bar.
Upon further review, you notice that there's no mention of security policies related to VPN usage. This topic is a key area that you want to include in the report, so enter the following prompt: Please write a new section for this document about security policies related to VPN usage. This content is for a technical audience, so please provide specific details.
You want to place this new security content between the Installation specifics section and the Risk and mitigations section. Place your cursor between these two sections, select Normal from the Styles section in the Word ribbon, and then select the Insert button. Edit the content as needed. For example, change the section heading titled Security Policies Related to VPN Usage to a** Heading 2** format.
After looking through the report, you identify one area of content that you feel must be rewritten. In the section on Risks and mitigations, the first bullet covers both home and enterprise VPNs. You want the report to only address enterprise VPNs. However, given the way in which the content is written, it doesn't appear to be an easy fix. You decide to have Copilot rewrite the content for you.
Tip
To have Copilot rewrite content, you must first highlight the content that you want Copilot to rewrite.
Highlight the content in both the first and second bullets of the Risks and mitigation section and then enter the following prompt: The highlighted content discusses the risks of using VPNs in both home and enterprise networks. Remove the content related to home networks then rewrite this section so that it focuses solely on the risks of VPNs in enterprise networks.
Note Copilot's response. It didn't remove the two bullets in the document. Instead, it rewrote the entire section in the Copilot pane. However, in reviewing the new content that it generated, you note that while it covers the risks of VPNs, it doesn't mention any mitigations that an organization should take. So before inserting this content, enter the following prompt: While the content you generated focuses on risks associated with VPNs in an enterprise environment, it doesn't mention any mitigations that a company can take to address these risks. Can you also add content related to risk mitigations.
After reviewing the revised content in the Copilot pane, you're pleased with this new material on Risks and mitigations. In the document, delete the two bullets in the Risks and mitigations section, leave the cursor where these bullets were, select Normal in the Styles section of the Word ribbon, and then select the Insert button to insert this revised section into the report. Since you already have the original Risks and mitigations section heading, you can remove the heading that Copilot generated and inserted into the document.
After you make a final pass through the document, one last thing catches your eye. You decide that the sections on the Pros and Cons of implementing VPNs would look better in a table rather than as bulleted lists. Highlight both sections and then enter the following prompt: Place the content from the Pros and Cons of implementing VPNs sections into a table.
Note the Copilot response. Instead of rewriting or replacing the existing content in the document with a table, it displays the table in its response in the Copilot pane. It's up to you to replace the content by inserting the table into the document. Delete the existing Pros and Cons sections from the document, leave the cursor where this section was, select Normal in the Styles section of the Word ribbon, and then select the Insert button to insert the table into the report. If no heading was included prior to the table, then manually add a Heading 2 header titled Pros and Cons of implementing VPNs prior to the table.
At this point, you feel the document is complete. However, to play it safe, you decide to ask Copilot if it feels the document should include any other information. Enter the following prompt: Is there anything missing in this document that you would recommend adding?
Note the Copilot response. In our testing, sometimes it told us that nothing was missing. Other times, it suggested some other sections. Feel free to add any extra sections to the report.
At this point, make sure the document is saved with all your changes. You'll use it again in the next exercise.