Teams-Specific Copilot Settings

Overview

Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing is tenant-wide, but Microsoft Teams has specific settings that control when and how users can use Copilot in meetings and channels. These settings live in the Teams admin center, and if they’re not configured correctly, users will be confused about why Copilot isn’t available even though they have licenses.

This video walks you through the Teams-specific Copilot configuration requirements, including the transcription dependency, meeting policy settings, and additional controls that affect Copilot behavior in government environments.

What You’ll Learn

• Transcription Dependency: Why transcription must be enabled for Copilot to work in Teams meetings
• Meeting Policy Configuration: How to configure the Copilot setting in Teams meeting policies
• Admin Center Navigation: Where to find Teams-specific Copilot settings
• Government Considerations: How to align Teams Copilot settings with compliance and records management requirements

Script

Hook: Teams has its own Copilot knobs

Copilot licensing is tenant-wide, but Teams has specific settings that control when and how users can use Copilot in meetings and channels.

These settings live in the Teams admin center, and you need to configure them correctly or users will be confused. They’ll have Copilot licenses. They’ll see Copilot in Word and Outlook. But when they join a Teams meeting, Copilot won’t be there.

That’s not a licensing problem. That’s a configuration problem. And that’s what we’re fixing today.

The transcription dependency

Here’s the first thing you need to understand: Copilot in Teams meetings requires transcription to be enabled.

This is not optional. This is not a workaround. Copilot uses the meeting transcript to generate summaries, extract action items, and answer questions about what was said. No transcript, no Copilot.

The setting lives in the Teams admin center under Meetings, then Meeting policies. You’ll see a setting called Transcription. By default, it’s turned on for new policies. But if you’ve customized policies or inherited settings from an older tenant, it might be off.

Now here’s where government agencies sometimes hit a snag. Some organizations disable transcription by default because of data residency concerns or records management policies. That’s a legitimate decision. But you need to know: if transcription is off, Copilot won’t work in meetings. Period.

So before you enable Copilot for users, verify that transcription is turned on in the meeting policies that apply to those users. And document the decision. Your compliance team will want to know where transcripts are stored and how long they’re retained.

The Copilot meeting policy setting

Now let’s look at the actual Copilot control.

In the Teams admin center, go to Meetings, then Meeting policies. Open the policy you want to configure. Scroll down to the Recording and transcription section. You’ll see a setting called Copilot.

This setting has three options.

First, Off. Pretty straightforward. Users cannot use Copilot in meetings governed by this policy.

Second, On. Users can use Copilot during the meeting and after the meeting. Copilot generates summaries and insights based on the transcript.

Third, On only with retained transcript. This is the option most government agencies should start with. It means Copilot only works if the transcript is saved to a persistent location like OneDrive or SharePoint. If the meeting ends and no one saves the transcript, Copilot doesn’t generate a summary.

Why does this matter for government? Auditability. If you’re going to allow an AI system to summarize a meeting and extract commitments, you want a record of what the AI had access to. Requiring a retained transcript gives you that.

If you prefer PowerShell, the command is Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy, specify the policy identity, and set the Copilot parameter to Enabled.

Document which policy you’re using and why. Your ATO package will need this.

Additional Teams settings that affect Copilot

A few other Teams settings influence how Copilot behaves.

First, meeting recording policy. If users want to save Copilot-generated summaries or share them with people who weren’t in the meeting, they’ll need permission to record. Make sure recording permissions align with your governance plan.

Second, channel message access. Copilot in Teams can summarize channel conversations. But it only sees messages the user can see. If your permissions model restricts who can read certain channels, Copilot respects that. This is important: Copilot doesn’t bypass Teams permissions.

Third, external access and guest settings. If your organization collaborates with external users, Copilot behavior in shared meetings follows your existing Teams sharing policies. Copilot won’t expose internal content to external participants unless your permissions already allow it.

And fourth, there’s a user access toggle in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Copilot settings. This controls whether Copilot is available in different Microsoft 365 apps, including Teams. Verify that Teams is enabled there.

The principle is simple: Copilot in Teams only sees what the user can see. Permission boundaries apply. If you have oversharing problems in Teams, Copilot will make them more visible. Fix the permissions, not the Copilot settings.

Close: configuration checklist for Teams admins

Here’s your checklist.

First, verify that transcription is enabled in the meeting policies that apply to your Copilot users. Without transcription, Copilot won’t work.

Second, set the Copilot meeting policy to On, or better yet for government, On only with retained transcript. This gives you auditability.

Third, confirm that recording permissions align with your governance plan. Users will want to save Copilot summaries.

Fourth, test with a pilot group before broad rollout. Make sure Copilot appears in meetings and that summaries generate correctly.

Fifth, document your decisions for compliance and ATO purposes. Which policies did you configure? Why did you choose retained transcript? What’s your retention schedule?

And sixth, monitor usage through the Teams admin center reports. Track adoption and watch for support issues.

Teams-specific Copilot configuration is not complicated, but it is required. Get these settings right and your users will have a consistent Copilot experience across meetings and collaboration. Get them wrong and you’ll field support tickets asking why Copilot isn’t available.

Do the configuration work up front.

Sources & References

• Manage Microsoft 365 Copilot in Teams meetings and events — Primary admin guidance for managing Copilot in Teams meetings and events, including meeting policy configuration
• Admins: Manage transcription and captions for Teams meetings — Transcription and caption settings that are prerequisite for Copilot functionality in Teams meetings
• Admin guide to Copilot in Teams Rooms — Admin configuration for Copilot in Teams Rooms, including voice isolation and enrollment settings
• Copilot in Microsoft 365 Admin Centers — Overview of Copilot settings in Microsoft 365 admin center that affect Teams integration