As we head into 2026 you may be keeping an eye on of the ever-growing amount of Microsoft licenses that people need to take full advantage of their UC, it may even be one of the reasons that you don’t want to integrate with Teams as a provider - Too many pieces of the puzzle that are out of your control.
But there has been a recent addition to Microsoft’s somewhat burgeoning licensing stack which may in fact be the key ingredient you need to succeed in the Microsoft space…
On the 1st December Microsoft officially introduced the Microsoft 365 Copilot Business license, bringing their AI services more in line with the rest of their other licensing structures which continue to even out the communications playing field between enterprises and smaller orgs. With this move the availability and general viability of Copilot have both dramatically increased for businesses with fewer than 300 employees. But why is this addition significant, and how exactly does this affect you?
Copilot has been available in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem since 2023, but since hitting the market it has been historically out of reach for most SMBs. Either through the cost per license, minimum commit or general use-cases, up until recently Microsoft had effectively excluded all but the largest of enterprises.
After all, even if they could get a few licenses for their staff (and not the 300 minimum license requirement that was in place until 2024), smaller businesses simply weren’t keen on the relatively high Copilot price tag for the functionality that they got in return.
But now SMBs can get Copilot licenses specifically tailored to their needs at a price point that is far more manageable. In the short, medium and long term this means the businesses that make up most of your customer-base are now being heavily incentivized to have their AI tooling sit natively in their 365 suite. This flings the door wide open for CSPs, MSPs and resellers to get themselves settled firmly into the centre of where SMBs now look to house their AI, which slots directly into where they also have their collaboration, communication and productivity tools. In short, if you were looking for an excuse to integrate into, or resell part of, the Microsoft ecosystem, this is it.
Whether you’re fully invested into the hype or not, there is one thing that is becoming abundantly clear – AI is useless in isolation. Yes, it is an extremely important layer going forward, but without a solid foundation and supporting cast it struggles to perform. Going deeper, and as I’m now stuck in my own analogy, in the future AI is even more likely to be seen as the background actor where your service is the A-lister. This is why the introduction of Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licenses is so important for providers looking to cater to Teams users – It just made your solution a whole lot stronger and you didn’t even have to do anything.
Before the release of Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, by integrating into Teams Phone you already gave your customers access to your services in their favourite work app to reduce your churn and expand your audience. But now your voice gets kicked into AI overdrive with no investment. AI call summary, AI call transcriptions, advanced call transfer, Copilot chat active in calls, all of it unlocked immediately out of the box. The included Copilot Studio also opens the door for your voice services to be utilized in more advanced and integrated ways through AI voice agents.
Ultimately, the high level data that Microsoft are shouting about on the front page for Copilot speak volumes. 81% of SMB leaders used this year as a pivoting motion for their strategy and operations. 45% of them say expanding team capability with ‘digital labour’ is a top priority. 79% of SMBs plan to implement agents within 12 to 18 months. Just as Teams has completely dominated the UC&C space in the past few years, its looking to dominate the AI space in the years to come and you can be a part of that for the SMBs that make up your customer base.
Want to know more about how you can lean on the power of Microsoft 365 Copilot Business with your communications? Make sure you get in touch.
