ClevrBytes

Welcome to the September edition of ClevrBytes. This month we’re shining a spotlight on Microsoft Copilot. Hear straight from an early adopter on its good and bad aspects, how they derived ROI, what to think about while building a business case for Copilot, security considerations and more.??

We’ve also got the latest updates in IT, cybersecurity, communications, and collaboration. Let’s dive in!?

Monthly Spotlight – Microsoft Copilot

How Access Partnership's 5% time savings from Copilot could boost revenue by ￡8,500/day.

Since being introduced 2 years ago, ChatGPT has made AI accessible to both individuals and businesses, which was otherwise reserved for only organisations with huge budgets. Microsoft Copilot has taken it a step beyond, giving the right security and embedding AI into tools we use almost daily – including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, SharePoint and more, making it widely accessible.?

However, Copilot has both fans and critics. Salesforce CEO recently compared it to Clippy, stating that customers are not getting value from it. Others have raised concerns about its data privacy.??

To understand if organisations do get any value from it, we spoke to an early adopter of Copilot – Access Partnership , a technology policy advisory and consulting company.

Recognising the potential of AI to boost employee productivity, Access Partnership chose 微软 Copilot for its seamless integration with its existing tech stack.? After launching a pilot program, they eventually rolled Copilot to the whole organisation.?

What’s good??

Helen Sussex , Head of Talent & Development at Access Partnership says they are using Copilot in Teams extensively to take meeting notes, track actions, recap meetings, and prepare for the next meeting.?

“People use it to draft and redraft documents and improve their language. Our reports are getting better thanks to Copilot,” says Helen.?

What’s not so good??

Like any application, Copilot also has a few issues. It can be slow at times and Helen feels there’s an inconsistency in how Copilot works across different Microsoft 365 apps. Some of the functionality in Excel and PowerPoint is also currently limited.?

Building a business case??

While it’s not easy to calculate ROI, Helen says you can make reasonable assumptions.??

“Copilot has easily saved at least 5% of our team’s time per day, though that’s probably an underestimation. If we assume the time saved is instead spent on billable work, we would earn an extra ￡8500 a day. That’s our ROI.”?

“I think for any IT managers looking to invest in it, leadership support is crucial to get things moving. If I were creating a business case, I’d focus on three things – personal productivity, creativity, and staying competitive.??

If you assume 5% time savings like we did, what would that mean in terms of additional revenue??

Copilot can help you just generate ideas faster, so what’s the price of that? And finally, can you afford not to adopt AI? In your industry, if your competitors embrace AI and you don’t, will you be left behind?”, says Helen.

Read the full conversation here: Access Partnership's Journey with Microsoft Copilot

Don’t ignore data security???

While Copilot offers numerous benefits, our experts warn you shouldn’t ignore data security considerations.?

Copilot has access to everything in your Microsoft 365 tenant, so before implementing it, take advice from experts in the field and review your organisation’s security measures and permissions, particularly on SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams. Understand who has access to what and apply restrictions using sensitivity labels and access policies. This isn’t just a best practice for Copilot; it’s a fundamental aspect of good security management.??

It's important to remember sharing data with AI tools always introduces some risks. For example, at the BlackHat USA 2024 conference session, it was shown how Copilot can be hacked into providing false bank account info via sending an email!?

The lesson here: There will be potential vulnerability if you’re sharing data with LLM. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work with these tools. Your security approach should always be “don’t trust, always verify”, especially when using AI tools.?

What’s the latest in the tech world?

• Data centres classed as critical national infrastructure in the UK: This means data centres will receive critical government support in case of environmental disasters, IT outages and cyber attacks, similar to water, energy, and emergency services systems, minimising the impact on the economy.
• Are your VPN passwords secure? The SpecOps Software research team found over 2.1 million VPN passwords that have been compromised by malware over the past year.?This shows people are not taking the security of such an important entry point seriously, with the most commonly breached passwords including ‘qwerty’, “123456” and even “password”. Goes on to show how security awareness still needs to go a long way.???
• No one is safe from cyberattacks! A recent ransomware attack forced a London high school to close and send students home. Educational institutions are particularly vulnerable, storing sensitive personal data in outdated systems and with a lack of adequate cybersecurity to protect these assets. With 126 incidents reported in the UK’s education sector in 2023, it’s high time educational institutions prioritise and relook at their security strategy.??
• Talkdesk customer is sued for Contact Centre AI use: This is the second time Talkdesk has been caught in legal matters over how its CCaaS tools collect and process data using AI tools for customer sentiment analysis without consent.?While Talkdesk is being affected by this lawsuit, many other CX vendors are running the same risk. AI is still very new and we expect the laws to evolve. But for now, vendors need to be transparent about how their customer data is used to maintain trust.?

What's coming up?

The Future of Hospitality in UCaaS & CCaaS: Brought to you by Cavell Group and CloudClevr, we’ll discuss what the future holds for the hospitality industry in the communications and contact centre space.

Join us on the 26th of November at The Lookout in London to hear and network with industry experts, including Cavell, Zoom , RingCentral , and Mitel , and enjoy stunning views of London!

Register today!?

Customer spotlight

Riverside Underwriting Ltd works in close partnership with partners and affiliates to support the provision of niche insurance solutions for the travel and motor industries.

As Riverside’s business evolved post-pandemic, they needed a new Contact Centre solution to keep up with the changes and also update their technology stack.?

To transform their customer communications, CloudClevr implemented an 8x8 Contact Centre solution for them providing clear visibility on waiting and abandoned calls, comprehensive reporting and analytics, improved call quality and more.?

With this, they’ve already managed to reduce call wait times from 20 to 15 seconds and are expecting further improvements!?

Read more here: Riverside Underwriting Customer Story

That’s all from us in this edition. See you next month with more updates and news!

Did you find this newsletter useful? What would you like to see featured in the upcoming editions? Let us know in the comments.