Using your Telephone for Audio
This guide will demonstrate how to use your telephone for audio in Blackboard Collaborate
Important note from Blackboard regarding Telephony Audio
Some users may be experiencing a busy or unavailable signal when trying to join a session via their phone. We are aware of this issue and are working to increase our dial-in capacity for sessions, as we know this is an important feature.
Our existing telephony provider has a limitation in their inventory of phone ports and has therefore provisioned us with just a few hundred ports, which are shared across our entire North America region (for Collab Ultra and Original).
To allocate this allowance across this geography, we have implemented a per-session dial-in limit of 25 dial-ins per session. However, when the total number of ports in the geography have been occupied, attendees will not be able to dial into their session. We are in the process of transitioning to a new telephony provider, which will allow us to increase our total number of phone ports in the region. We are anticipating this to be available in April.
In the meantime, please use the web version of Collaborate on your computer and your mobile device. Do not use the dial-in numbers, as this will free up those spots for users with internet issues. For additional best practices on how to use Collaborate, please see these best practices for Moderators and these best practices for Participants.
Thanks for your understanding and cooperation as we work to better serve our clients and ensure continuity of education for learners around the world.
Accessing the Collaborate Panel
To change the Audio and Video settings in Collaborate, you will need to open the Collaborate Panel. To open the Collaborate Panel, click on the purple button in the bottom right corner.
Accessing the Audio and Video Settings

To access the Audio and Video Settings:
- Click on the gear icon to open the My Settings tab in the Collaborate Panel.
- Click on Audio and Video Settings to expand this section if it is not already expanded.
Using your Telephone for Audio

Select the option labeled Use your phone for Audio. Blackboard will then generate a phone number and PIN you can dial in.