Topic Overview
Blackboard Collaborate Ultra has specific settings that can be accessed prior to opening a room or when you create a session.
Steps
Edit Settings and Enabling Guest Access
On the right-hand side of the screen for Course Room, you can click Join Room. Directly right of Join Room, there is a button with three dots
Click on this button and you will see several options. Choose Edit settings to change the Course Room set-up.
Note: If you select Create Session, you will get the same settings panel.
In the Event Details menu, if you want to allow access to outside users or guests, make sure you select the box for Guest Access. You will have the option to choose their Guest Role in the class (you can always change the role later in the session itself). Go to Blackboard User Roles to learn more about what they do.
- Once you select Save, a link will be created for you to share with your Guest.
Edit Session Settings
To access more settings, select the Gear Icon in the tab at the top of the menu.
For the students that are enrolled in the Blackboard course, their default role is Participant, if you have a session where everyone will be presenting or they need more access to the session resources, you can change their Default Attendee Role before they enter the session. 
The Recording options allow you to record a live session and later download it as a video file on your computer. If you do not select this function and record a session, you can not go back and download the session later. For this to work, Allow recording downloads needs to be selected prior to opening your session and recording. To hide the participants names in the recordings, select Anonymize chat messages and the names in the chat room will not appear when viewed later. This is a great feature for a guest speaker lecture that is recorded and used for another class in later semesters or for students that do not want to be identified. 
Participants have different functions that can be allowed or restricted as they enter the session. For example: Share audio, Share video, Post chat messages, Draw on whiteboard and files 
The last option is to moderate all Private Chats. This function allows any Moderator to monitor the ability of participants to chat privately with each other. 
Due to network issues or computer difficulties, it is possible to turn on telephone access for audio use in the session for users.
Lastly, there is a Profanity filter for the chat messages.
Select Save and the settings will be applied and ready for the room to be joined.