As Microsoft continues to expand its integration of generative AI tools, the latest product announced by the company is a strong contender for its AI productivity hub, Notion AI.
Microsoft’s new collaboration hub, Microsoft Loop, uses the Microsoft Office suite to offer a seamless way to manage projects and tasks. With Loop, users can create collaborative documents using any Microsoft Office application, such as Outlook, Teams, or Word.
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Loop mimics the collaborative nature of Google Workspace, allowing up to 50 people to collaborate on a single document simultaneously. There are three parts to Loop: components, workspaces, and pages.
To start your collaborative project, you start with workspaces. Here you can enter relevant keywords about your project and Loop will suggest the appropriate tools for you to use. The app will then create pages that organize your content.
New pages will offer templates, designs and images based on your keywords. If your project requires input from someone outside of your team, you can quickly break down parts of your project. This feature allows you to share only certain information or components with people outside of your organization.
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Components can be copied and pasted into any Microsoft Office application. Pages can be shared as a web link or live page. To comment on a page, users can comment directly on the page or select comments from their Outlook email, similar to Google Docs.
Within a project, you can add progress trackers to keep people informed of what to do next. Tasks assigned in the Loop app can be synced to Microsoft Planner and To Do, creating a to-do list for you.
The Loop app can send notifications to your desktop and mobile devices, letting you know about mentions, assigned tasks, and comment responses. The app also offers security and permission controls, keeping your pages and components in the right hands.
Loop works with Microsoft Copilot, which gives users AI-based recommendations for your pages and components. In your project, you can ask Copilot for suggestions, change the tone of the memo, and ask Copilot to rewrite what you’ve written.
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Once Copilot creates what you’re looking for, you can share it as a Loop component in any Microsoft 365 app. Copilot can help you summarize information in Loop, edit summaries, and share them as you go along.
Loop is available in public preview on the web and on Android and Apple mobile devices. More likely, your company will first need to approve your access to Loop on your company-owned device. For now, Loop is only available on company accounts, so you won’t be able to access it from your personal devices.