Using Entities in Copilot Studio For Teams - Power Platform for Educators (Ep. 8)

In this episode of Power Platform for Educators, Matthew Peterson demonstrates how to utilize entities within Copilot for Teams to streamline conversations and enhance user interactions. By leveraging entities, Copilot can identify key phrases or responses from users, speeding up the conversation flow and providing quicker answers.

What Are Entities?

Entities allow Copilot to extract key information from a user’s response, such as dates, emails, or custom data like homework topics. When a user mentions a predefined entity, Copilot can bypass unnecessary follow-up questions and go straight to the relevant part of the conversation.

Creating Custom Entities

Matthew demonstrates how to create a custom entity, "Homework Responses," with options such as "late homework," "turn in homework," and "absent homework." This helps Copilot recognize when a student has already provided specific details in their initial query, making the conversation more efficient.

Smart Matching and Synonyms

By enabling smart matching, Copilot can recognize similar meanings, grammar variations, and misspellings in a user's input. Synonyms can also be added to expand Copilot’s understanding, making interactions more flexible and intuitive.

Testing Entities in Action

Matthew tests the functionality by showing how Copilot responds when a student inputs relevant information. For example, when a student types "I have late homework," Copilot skips the follow-up question and provides the appropriate response. Even when a synonym like "crazy homework" is used, Copilot recognizes the entity and processes it correctly.

Advanced Use Cases for Entities

Entities are useful not only for text-based inputs but also for scenarios where numerical data needs to be extracted. For instance, Copilot can process numbers written as text, remove currency symbols, or validate numerical inputs to drive conversation logic.

Key Benefits of Entities

• Streamlines conversations by automatically recognizing key information.
• Reduces the need for redundant questions, improving user experience.
• Enhances flexibility through smart matching and the use of synonyms.
• Supports complex logic, such as conditional checks based on numbers or money values.

Conclusion

Entities in Copilot help make user interactions more dynamic and efficient, especially when dealing with complex or repetitive questions. Educators and administrators can use these features to enhance communication with students and streamline classroom-related inquiries.

Don't forget to check out the Pragmatic Works' on-demand learning platform for more insightful content and training sessions on Copilot Studio and other Microsoft applications. Be sure to subscribe to the Pragmatic Works YouTube channel to stay up-to-date on the latest tips and tricks.