Video conferencing has become an essential tool for remote communication; however, it can also be a source of stress and fatigue. As we spend more time in virtual meetings, finding ways to make them more inclusive, efficient, and enjoyable for everyone involved is important. Avatars for Microsoft Teams can help achieve this by providing a more personal and engaging communication.

With Avatars, you can represent yourself in meetings and chats without having to show your face. This can be a great way to reduce eye strain and fatigue, and it can also help you to feel more comfortable and engaged in your meetings.

In this blog post, I will discuss how you can use Microsoft Teams Avatars as an alternative to traditional video options in meetings. Avatars can make meetings more engaging, productive, and fun.

Installing the Avatars App

Before creating your avatar, we would have to install the app. Here are the steps to follow.

1. Launch Teams (not new Teams) and Click on the Apps icon at the bottom left of the screen.
2. Search for “Avatar” in the search bar above.
3. Select the Avatars App from the result list.

4. Click on “Add” to install.

Once the installation is complete, you can access the Avatars app by clicking on the Apps button and selecting it from the list of installed apps.

Creating your Avatar

1. To create an Avatar, Click on Get Started.
2. Choose an avatar that looks like you from the wide selection. Once you’ve found the perfect one, click “Use Avatar” to get started.
3. You can also Pin the Avatar App.
4. Click the “Customize” button to personalize your avatar’s body, face, hair, appearance, and wardrobe.
5. Click Save once you are done customizing.

Joining the meeting as an Avatar

You can now join a meeting using your Avatar instead of your camera by following these steps:

1. Click on Effects and Avatars.
2. Select an Avatar
3. Choose a background image if you’d like.
4. Then Join the meeting.
5. Once you are in the meeting, you can explore other gestures. Navigate to the More option and click on Effects and avatars.
6. You can also change the avatar at this point.
7. You can apply reactions, increase the smile of your avatar, or tilt the avatar’s position slightly to the left or right.
8. The avatar can also be used with the classic Teams reactions. If you choose to use one of these reactions, your avatar will move while the reaction is displayed on the meeting stage.

Conclusion

In conclusion, avatars can be a great way to make meetings more inclusive and engaging, especially for people who need a break from video fatigue or prefer to keep their video off. Avatars can also help to include more people in the conversation, as they can be used to represent people who are not able to share their video. Even if users cannot share video due to their surroundings or a weak internet connection, they can still participate in meetings in ways that are not possible with audio-only calls.

Points to note:

• Avatars are not available on the new teams at the time this article was written.
• You cannot create more than three avatars in Teams for now.