492616 – Microsoft 365 Admin Center: M365 Copilot – Billing and usage – Usage insights

Product:

Copilot, Microsoft 365 admin center

Platform:

Web, World tenant

Status:

In development

Change type:

Links:

Details:

As you enable M365 Copilot Chat pay-as-you-go billing, AI administrators can view usage insights to inform agent management decisions. This feature displays the cost and number of messages in total and per agent. Cost and usage details can be filtered by billing policy and date range.

Change Category:
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Scope:
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Release Phase:
General Availability

Created:
2025-05-29

updated:
2025-09-11

Public Preview Start Date

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Docu to Check

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MS workload name

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summary for non-techies**

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Direct effects for Operations**

Increased Costs Due to Unmonitored Usage
If M365 Copilot is enabled without proper monitoring, organizations may incur unexpected costs due to high usage of AI services, leading to budget overruns.
   - roles: Finance Manager, IT Administrator
   - references: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2023/10/01/understanding-microsoft-365-copilot-billing-and-usage/

User Confusion and Inefficiency
Without preparation and training on how to effectively use M365 Copilot, users may experience confusion, leading to decreased productivity and inefficient use of the tool.
   - roles: End User, Training Coordinator
   - references: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2023/10/01/understanding-microsoft-365-copilot-billing-and-usage/

Configutation Options**

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explanation for non-techies**

Imagine you're managing a team of lawyers in a bustling law firm. You have several cases running simultaneously, and each lawyer is handling different clients. To keep track of how much time each lawyer spends on their cases and how much to bill the clients, you use a detailed timesheet system. This system allows you to see how many hours each lawyer has worked and how much revenue each case is generating.

Now, let's translate this analogy to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center with the new M365 Copilot feature. Think of M365 Copilot as a smart assistant that helps manage your team's interactions with clients, but in the digital world. Just like the timesheet system, the M365 Copilot provides insights into how much each digital interaction (or message) costs and how many messages each team member (or agent) is sending.

The pay-as-you-go billing system is similar to how you might charge clients based on the hours worked by your lawyers. Instead of billing by the hour, M365 Copilot charges based on the number of messages sent. This allows you to see the total cost and the number of messages sent by each agent, just like you would track billable hours for each lawyer.

Furthermore, just as you might want to look at the timesheets for a specific month or for a particular client, the M365 Copilot allows you to filter the cost and usage details by billing policy and date range. This helps you make informed decisions about managing your digital interactions, similar to how you manage your legal team's workload and billing.

In essence, M365 Copilot's usage insights are like a digital ledger for your team's communication efforts, providing clarity and control over your digital resources, much like a timesheet system does for a law firm's billing and time management.