what is co browsing

Dec 13, 2023


What is Cobrowsing? and how does it work?

What is Cobrowsing?

Cobrowsing is a collaborative technology that enables multiple users to view and interact with a single system in real-time. It can also be called collaborative browsing; it is helpful to customer support agents, allowing them to view and help customers quickly through a collaborative session since it lets agents and customers interact and navigate computer screens in real time. It enables a more personalized and efficient experience for the customer. It is a crucial feature for customer support service.


Cobrowsing can be used to fill out a form, troubleshoot issues that the user might be facing, or, in any case, where the user needs assistance from support agents.

According to Forrester, companies that provide superior customer experience outperform by 80%


Why should support agents use Co Browsing?

Co-browsing or collaborative sessions help contact center agents resolve customer issues quickly and efficiently, providing customers with personalized support. There may be issues that cannot be resolved with live chat without correctly understanding customer interactions; often, customers cannot explain via chat or call; in such circumstances, co-browsing comes in handy in resolving issues smoothly with a collaborative session.

During a collaborative session, customer agents can see precisely where the user needs assistance. They can highlight, comment, and even take actions on the user's screen, guiding them on the screen. Regarding permissions, users or customers have control over what screen is visible and what permissions are granted to the agent. Also, critical details such as card details, contact info, etc., are masked.

How does Co Browsing work?

Cobrowsing or collaborative browsing enables agents to join users for their browsing support.It can be a real-time joint session for one or more users.

  • During a live chat or a call, if the user needs assistance in real-time, the agent can take the user's consent and request a collaborative session.

Cobrowsing Request

  • The user must accept the request and select the screen or windows that will be visible to agents.
  • Once accepted, agent can browse user screen and can assist user with the queries or issues. During the session, agents can chat, highlight, comment and can also start a video/audio call with the user.

Chat Collaborative Session

  • During the session, the conversations can be recorded and kept track of, including audio and video calls. The agent or user can also invite others to join the collaborative session.

Data privacy and security during a collaborative session

Customer data privacy and security are of utmost importance when browsing or controlling user screens. Ensuring customer security becomes crucial to building strong relationships with your customers.
Here are a few of the points which need to be ensured for any collaboration solution

  • The user needs to grant permission before starting a cobrowse session. A few of the solutions also require OTP to grant access.
  • The Agent can only view the window the user allows and cannot view any other windows/screens.
  • Data masking is inevitable, user’s confidential information Such as payment information, address, CVV, login details etc. should not be visible to agents.
  • Limited controls to agents, depending upon the permission granted agents cannot click on buttons.
  • Users need not required to download any software or plugins for a collaborative session.
  • Agents should be able to highlight and comment on users screen for better understanding.
  • Agents should be able to get on an audio/video call during the session and can record the session.

Uses and Benefits of Co Browsing

Co-browsing enables visual customer engagement that gives your business a competitive advantage by personalizing customer experience.
Here are some of the use cases where cobrowsing can be helpful.

  • Filling complex forms & documentation.
  • Troubleshooting payment errors and completing successful payments.
  • Resolving account-related queries.
  • Understanding products & services and selecting the appropriate one.
  • Searching from reference materials & documentation.
  • Scenarios where navigation is complex.

Let's discuss how co-browsing is beneficial for establishing strong relationships with your customers.

Instant query resolution:

With co-browsing solution, your customers need not wait over call or chat. Agents can quickly identify the issue and fix it for customers. This saves time for users and agents to explain over call or chat.

REAL-TIME ASSISTANCE:

Co-browsing enables real-time assistance to your customers. They don't have to wait for the agent to come up with a solution, implement it, and go back and forth.

INCREASE FIRST CONTACT RESOLUTION (FCR) RATES:

With co-browsing, agents can solve most issues at first contact. Even if it is a complex issue, co-browsing will reduce the number of contacts.

PERSONALIZED SUPPORT:

Co-browsing helps establish the human touch and provides personalized service, which leads to happy customers and high CSAT scores.

Improved customer experience

Customer experience has always been at the center of businesses. With time, its significance continued to rise. Today, thanks to cutthroat competition among companies in the market, it has become hard to determine which is a better product or service. In such a scenario, customers make buying decisions based on customer experience.

Given the high expectations of today's customers, businesses always keep an eye out for new ways to innovate their customer experience. Since Co browsing helps improve customer experience by providing support in real-time, it becomes important for businesses to incorporate Cobrowsing for their customer support.

Cobrowsing Vs Screenshare

Co-browsing Screen sharing
No need to install any software on the PC. Users and agents can perform cobrowsing through only browsers. Users and agents need to install applications on their PC to perform screen sharing.
Users have the option to choose the screen for co browsing. Therefore agents do not have access to other confidential data on the user’s PC. While screen sharing, users do not have control over what to display during the session.
Agents can highlight and can add comments to the user’s document or data. Agents cannot highlight or comment on users’ data.
Agents can perform audio & video calls while co-browsing. Agents cannot perform audio & video calls while screen sharing.
Users can add multiple users to the cobrowsing session. Screen sharing is restricted to two people at a time. Users cannot add others to the screen-sharing session.
Cobrowsing is more secure than screen sharing as users have a data masking feature. There is no data masking available in screen sharing and therefore it is less secure.
Users have the option to record the collaborative session along with the screen and video call recording. Users cannot record during the screen-sharing session.


With the specified differences it is clear that collaborative browsing is flexible and secure as compared to screen sharing.

Talk to our Experts

Why Co Browsing should be a must-have feature for contact centers?

Cobrowsing technology enables contact center agents to remotely connect and resolve issues of the users in real-time.

For an agent, there is always a situation where a user is stuck at a point and is not able to follow the agent’s instructions properly. Ever yday agents struggle with such kinds of situations, and for such situations, collaborative browsing is the only option. Agents can connect immediately and resolve the issue.

Contact centers where the time of their agents is crucial to increase FCR rates. Collaborative browsing is a boon.

It not only saves time but also improves customer experience. Hence it should be a must-have feature for contact centers.

Floatbot’s Live chat with Co-Browsing

Floatbot cobrowsing is available with Floatbot live agent chat. Floatbot allows smooth collaborative sessions with the users. It supports advanced features like

  • Freehand highlighter.
  • Chat during a co-browse session.
  • Audio video call during co-browse session.
  • Co-browse session recordings.
  • Add others to the collaborative session.
  • Users can upload documents during the session.

Flotbot's Co-Browsing is smooth and hassle-free, which comes in handy for the agents when handling complex user queries.

TO SUM UP

Co-browsing (collaborative browsing) helps businesses take their customer support to the next level - it leads to quick resolution of customer issues, higher FCR (first contact resolution) rates, happy customers, and higher CSAT and NPS scores. It is a must-have technology for contact centers.

Sign up now and give it a try! For any questions or queries, feel free to write us at connect@floatbot.ai 

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