These help topics document the Blackboard Collaborate Launcher available in versions 4.4 and later of the Blackboard Collaborate Building Block.
The Blackboard Collaborate Launcher is a utility for Windows and Mac that provides a convenient and reliable way for you to launch your Blackboard Collaborate web conferencing sessions and recordings. When you select Join Room on the Room Details page or a recording link in the Recordings table, Blackboard Collaborate checks to see if you have the launcher installed. If you don't, Blackboard Collaborate prompts you to download it.
When the launcher is installed, selecting a session or recording link triggers the download of a .collab file. The launcher uses this file to launch Blackboard Collaborate using Java. Because the launcher includes the required Java, you don't need to install and maintain the system version of Java.
