Setting up audio and video
Take a look at this Collaborate article to make sure you've set up your microphone and camera correctly.

Troubleshooting Audio and Video Issues

• See information for Chrome
• See information for Firefox
• See information for Safari

Full list of advice for issues with quality of audio/video.

Why can't other Attendees hear me?

• Is the headset plugged in?
• Is there a mute switch engaged on the headset?
• Is the computer’s audio muted or turned low?
• are you using the audio input device that Collaborate is configured to recognize?
• Echo in the headphones? This may happen if two or more users are near each other in the same physical room; one user’s voice may be coming through more than one microphone.

How can I mute Attendees?
You can mute individual attendees or everyone in a session:

• Individual attendees: From the Attendees panel, point to an attendee with their audio on. Select Attendee controls. Select Mute.
• All attendees: Select More options at the top of the Attendees panel. Select Mute All.

Permissions for webcam and microphone on MacApple introduced new security settings which may require users to manually grant their browsers permission to access the webcam and microphone. Note that the browser may indicate that it already has access to these devices, but will be unable to use them.
Affected OS: MacOS 10.14 Mojave and MacOS 10.15 Catalina 

Check that you are using the best browser for Collaborate:

• Certified browsers and operating systems - check here for best experience in Collaborate
• Supported Browsers

N.B. Application Sharing is not yet available in Safari stable releases. It may be made available in a future Safari stable release.

Don't Block Third-party Cookies
Blocking third-party cookies may cause problems when trying to join a Collaborate session.
Copy and paste these links into your browser to check settings:

• Chrome - chrome://settings/content/cookies
• Firefox - about:preferences#privacy (Cookies and Site Data)

I can't see the Create Session button in my Collaborate area. What's wrong?
Your Collaborate permissions depend on the role you have been given for the course in Campus Solutions. Please refer to this guide to roles and permissions, and then - if you need to - ask your Campus Solutions administrator to amend your role. Allow up to 24 hours for the change to take effect.

I can't find my Collaborate recordings. Where are they?
Both staff and students access the recordings in the same way, explained here. You will also find information about renaming recordings, copying the link, and how to download (if available). You can access all recordings either by Recent Recordings (last 30 days) or Recordings in a Range (from/to dates).

You need to click on the Collaborate menu to see the Recordings link:

What is recorded during a Recording?

• Audio
• Any content shared or active speaker video. If both are shared during the session, only the content shared is recorded.
• Chat messages in the Everyone channel.

N.B. Private messages and files/chat in Breakout Groups are not recorded.

Does recording stop when I join a Breakout Group?
If there is nobody left in the Main Room, the recording will stop. When you return to the Main Room from a Breakout Group, you will need to press Start Recording again. You can not record anything in a Breakout Group.

Can I pause my recording?
You cannot pause a recording, but you can create multiple recordings for one session. Any new recordings are saved and added to the list of recordings for that session. Recordings will only appear once the session has finished.

How do I create more than one recording in my session?
Use the Start and Stop recording option in the Session menu. When you select Stop, the recording ends. When you select Start, a new recording begins. You can have multiple recordings during each session. They will be called Title_of_Session: recording_1, Title_of_Session: recording_2, Title_of_Session: recording_3, etc. They can be renamed via the Recording Options icon.

Do students automatically see the recordings list?
Yes, they do. They can either "Watch now" or, if the setting was selected when creating the Session, download the recording. 

Can Students download recordings?
Only if you ticked the Allow Recording Downloads in Session Settings when creating your Session. You can amend this setting after a Session has run but it will have no effect on previous Sessions. It will apply only to future Sessions.

Will the recording keep a transcript of the group chat that students can access?
Yes, the recording will capture any chat in the Everyone channel. However, private messages and chat messages in Breakout Groups are not recorded.

Can I edit my recordings to remove parts or shorten the length?
At this time there is no option to edit the Collaborate Ultra recording that is stored online. You may wish to download the recording and edit it with video editing software. To do this, make sure you have selected the Allow Recording Downloads option in Session Settings when creating the Session.

If I delete a recording can it be restored?
No. Once a recording is deleted, it can't be restored. However, deleting a recording is a two-step process where you are asked to review and confirm the deletion prior to it being finalised.

How long are my recordings stored?
At this time there is no limit on the amount of time a Collaborate recording is stored.

What are my Collaborate recording storage limits?
500 GB limitation will apply to recordings created in Collaborate.

Guide to Creating and Using Breakout Groups
How to create Breakout Groups, monitor them, and re-use files shared in them.
http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=49157

Overview of Breakout Groups
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4dudLGevhw&vl=en

Can I share files to Breakout Groups?
Yes, in the same way you share files to the Main Room. Any files you share in a breakout Group can be transferred to the Main Room when Breakout Groups end. Watch this video to find out how. 

Can I drop in to Breakout Rooms?
Yes. Watch this video to find out how.

Can I record a Breakout Group?
No. Recording can take place only in the Main Room Content and Chat areas.
N.B. If you are recording the Main Room and you then join a Breakout Group leaving the Main Room empty, any recording in progress will stop. You will need to press Start Recording again when you return to the Main Room. 

Can I track attendance in a Collaborate session?
Yes, you can see a report for each session. Go to the Collaborate area in Blackboard. Hover your mouse over the Session you want a report for, click on the Session Options button (the 'invisible icon'!) and select View Reports. From the next screen you’ll be able to select the report for any session that has taken place. There is also the option to export this report in a printable and CSV format.

What is the maximum number of attendees I can have in a single session?
By default, sessions support up to 250 attendees. If needed, you can set up your session to support up to 500 attendees. Scroll to the bottom of the session's Settings, tick the "Allow 250+ attendees to join" option, and press Save. If you don't see the large session option, check the session length. The session needs an end time and can't be more than 4 hours in length. 

A Collaborate Large Event runs in webinar mode, and attendees have limited ability to participate. Participants can't use audio or video, post chat messages, draw on whiteboards/files, or use Breakout Groups. Chat can be turned on during a Large Event session. You can enable an individual Participant's audio/video, etc by making them a Presenter. This page gives more information on large events.

What is an attendee?
An Attendee is anyone who enters your Collaborate session, regardless of role. Attendees can be Moderators, Presenters, Participants, or Captioners.

Where can I find attendees?
Open the Attendees list to view all attendees. Open the Collaborate panel and select Attendees. At-a-glance you see:

• The roles of each attendee. Attendees are grouped by role to make it easier to see who can do what in the session.
• Attendees with their hand raised. Those with their hand raised appear at the top of their role list.
• Attendee status or feedback.
• Attendees with their microphone turned on.

Moderators can select Attendee Controls next to an attendee's name to promote/demote them, mute them, or remove them.

Can I see the Attendees panel and Chat at the same time?
Yes. To do this, you need to detach the Attendees panel from the main Collaborate panel to keep it open all the time. There are two ways to do this:

1. Open the Collaborate panel. Drag-and-drop the Attendees icon to the main stage, or
2. Open the Collaborate panel and select Attendees. Select More options at the top of the panel. Select Detach Panel.

Any content on the main stage moves to the left to make room for the Attendees panel. Now you can see Attendees and use Chat at the same time. You can close the Attendees panel at any time by selecting More Options at the top of the panel and pressing Merge Panel.

Please note, some applications simply display better when you share them in full-screen mode rather than sharing a specific application.

For instance, menus that appear when right-clicking within an application may not appear, and sharing individual Microsoft Office applications can be problematic. PowerPoint slides do not appear to advance for participants in the session. Participants cannot see edits made to Microsoft Word documents or Excel workbooks.

If an application fails to display properly when sharing a single application, try switching to full-screen mode instead.

• Share Entire Screen
• Share Application
• Share Tab

Share Entire Screen

How does Share Screen work with dual monitors?
If you have more than one monitor, Collaborate will ask you which screen you want to share. select the monitor you want to share and click the Share button to share your screen.

Share Application

Will my PowerPoint animations show when sharing?
Yes, but you need to share your slides in a resizable window, not full screen. Before you start sharing the application from Collaborate, select Set Up Slideshow in PowerPoint and choose Browse by Individual Window. Resize the PowerPoint window so that it is not full screen.
Watch this video to see how to do this.

Why don't some application menus appear when I use Application Share?
Collaborate Ultra doesn't display drop-down menus, or right mouse clicks when sharing an Application. To do this, you will need to use the Share Entire Screen option.

I'm using a tablet but Application Sharing is not working.
Application sharing is not available on mobile devices and tablets. If you want to share your screen or application you must be on a desktop computer.

Share Tab

 ... coming soon

Do the files I upload stay in the Session, or do I need to upload them each time?
These files stay in the session until deleted by a moderator. Load them once and reuse them as often as you want. If you can't join a session you want to upload files to, edit the session and change the time to Start Now. Upload the files. Don't forget to change the start time back to the original time!

How do I add files etc to the Session before it starts? I have created a Session but can't get into it before the set time.
You have to temporarily bring forward the Session's start date/time to today's date/time. Then join the Session and upload your files. Finally, change the start date/time back to its original setting, and Save.

How do I remove or rename files?
If you want to delete or rename a file, go to Share Files in the Collaborate panel. Find the file and open the File Options menu to the right of the file. Select Remove file or Rename file.

Which file types can be used for Share Files?
You can upload images (gif, jpeg, png), PDF files, or PowerPoint presentations (max. 60mb) to share during your Collaborate session. You can upload multiple files but the total size allowed for all uploaded files is 125mb for any particular session.

Moderator
Moderators have full control over all content being shared. They can make any attendee a presenter or a moderator. Moderators see hand raise notifications and can lower hands. They can remove attendees from a session, but they cannot remove other moderators. Moderators can set the session settings, including deciding what participants can and can't do. Moderators can start and stop recordings.

Presenter
The presenter role is designed to allow students to present without giving them full moderator privileges. Presenters can upload, share, edit, and stop sharing content. They can also see hand raise notifications and can lower hands.

Participant
Participants can enable and disable notifications, such as when attendees enter and leave a session or when someone has posted something to the chat. Moderators decide if participants share audio and video, chat, and draw on the whiteboard or shared files.

Captioner
The captioner role is designed to provide an accessible learning experience for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as for students whose native language is different from the moderator's. An attendee is assigned this role by a moderator during a live session. The captioner is given an area to type what is being said. Other participants can view what the captioner is typing in real time. You can have multiple captioners for multiple languages.  Captions can also be added to a recording later (.vtt or .srt file type) if the session has been set to allow recording downloads. Captions entered during the live session are included when the session is recorded. If your session has more than one caption track, only the first available one is captured. Live captioning is not supported in Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean.
Read more on the Captioner role.

Can I save the Whiteboard?
No. If you want to use the content created on the Whiteboard later in a Session, take a screenshot (Windows: Use the Print Screen key, Mac: Use the Command+Shift+3 keys) that can be uploaded as shared content.

How do you lock the room once one person is in it with you?
You can't. All Sessions are visible within the Collaborate Area to all students in the course. The best thing to do would be to create a Session in your Blackboard PlayGround and send the Guest link to the person you want to meet.

Notifications during a Session
There are three types of notifications which you can select in the Notifications section of My Settings within the Collaborate panel.

Collaborate pop-up:
A visual notification that appears in Collaborate's content presentation area. You must have the session window open and active to see it.

Audio:
A sound that alerts you to something new. Different notifications have different sounds.

• Join session notification: Sounds like a boing.
• New chat notification: Sounds like a thunk.
• Hand raise notification: Sounds like "Duh da." Only moderators can hear hand raise notifications.
• Leave session notification: Sounds like "Bing bong."

Browser pop-up:
A visual notification that appears at the top of a browser window. Browser pop-up notifications don't appear when the session window is open and active. They only appear when you have another browser window, or application, open and active.