Adding a Collada object with animations

Following my previous thread, http://www.garagegames.com/community/forums/viewthread/98611 (thanks for the reply Steve!), I've managed to get bots into the game using a trigger.

Is it possible to populate a map with such bots prior to the creation of the server (in the World Editor), or must I place spawn points for each and every NPC and spawn them when the game starts?

Currently, I'm also trying to create new animated objects and place them into the game. How do I do that with Collada models since they lack a .dsq file?

Also, could anyone point me in the right direction as to how I can add a new player model and assign animations to them? (Perhaps even using the default animations available in the ~\game\art\shapes\players\animations directory)

Thanks!