San Francisco, Mar 28 (IANS): Tech giant Microsoft has announced that it is rolling out 'Avatars' in public preview for its proprietary business communication platform Microsoft Teams.

"Avatars for Microsoft Teams offers an alternative to the current binary option of video or no video," the tech giant said in a blogpost on Monday.

"Avatars for Teams gives you that much-needed camera break, while still allowing you to collaborate effectively."

Users can represent themselves the way they want with customisable avatars and reactions.

The company had announced the release of private preview in October last year, and now it has introduced a few updates with the new version.

The tech giant has added a new lighting system to the new public preview version which improves performance and enhances the appearance of avatar skin and hair.

Also, the new version will include a multitude of new customisation options, like bindis and hearing aids, the company said.

Now, if the users react using the Teams emoji reactions, their avatar will mimic that reaction with their body. For instance, if they use the raised hand reaction, their avatar will also raise their hand.