You are probably already aware of Cortana, the Windows 10 AI personal assistant. Did you know that you can use it to improve the efficiency and productivity of your business? With a better understanding of its basic functions, you’ll be on your way to becoming an AI-powered organization.

To take advantage of Cortana, you should enable it on your desktop first. The process is easy: Just press the Windows Key, type “cortana” and click on “Cortana settings.” From there, you can change whether it responds to your voice or get activated by a keyboard shortcut, and you can set other personal preferences.

Voice Reminders, Notes and Alarms

As soon as you enable “Hey, Cortana” on all your gadgets, you can begin using it to dictate notes, set alarms, and create reminders. Thanks to advancements in AI, Cortana should be able to recognize most natural-language requests, like “Wake me up at 9am tomorrow,” or “Remind me to pick up my dry cleaning tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, you can use it as a voice recorder during meetings instead of writing down notes. Just say, “Hey Cortana, make a new note in OneNote,” and whatever is recorded will automatically be saved to OneNote!

AI-Scheduled Meetings

With Microsoft’s new Calendar.help feature, you can issue commands to a group email chain by saying things like, “Hey Cortana, can you help us book a 30-minute call next week?”

Calendar.help will work with Cortana to contact each attendee individually, find out what times they are available, and pick the best option for the group. You would only need to email the details, including duration, agenda and location, before you cc Cortana and forward it to the people involved. At that point, Cortana will send invites and handle all email exchanges. For now the project is still in preview/beta, so you will need to sign up.

Quick Conversions and Calculations

There are times when you need to make some calculations, but Googling or using your phone’s calculator just takes too much time. Cortana can answer complicated math problems, even if they are stated in plain language. What’s more, Cortana is able to convert temperature, time zone, weight, and volume.

Cortana will not only improve your business processes, but also help create a more relaxed workplace. And when employees are less stressed, everyone experiences more rewarding workdays.

We’re experts in traditional office IT, but we’re also pretty savvy with exciting new tools like Cortana. Send us a message today to learn more tips on improving productivity in your workplace.