Cobrowsing (short for collaborative browsing), in the context of

web browsing Web navigation refers to the process of navigating a Computer network, network of web resource, information resources in the International World Wide Web Conference, World Wide Web, which is organized as hypertext or hypermedia. The user interface ...

, is the joint navigation through the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...

by two or more people accessing the same web page at the same time.

History of cobrowsing software

Early cobrowsing was achieved by local execution of software that had to be installed on the computer of each participant. More advanced tools didn't have to be installed, but still required local execution of software or at least web-browser plug-ins, extensions, or applets. Most tools were limited to a single user that was able to navigate, while the others could only watch. Newer co-browsing solutions no longer require downloads, installations, or plug-ins. Instead, these solutions rely on peer-to-peer connections and

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manipulation. Some tools provide very limited cobrowsing by only synchronizing the page location ( URL) of the page that should be shared. Full cobrowsing supports automatic synchronization of the browsers' state and content, including frames, portlets, or even content of the form fields and controls. Some tools can even identify complex media objects such as audio and video players and offer capability of synchronous (coordinated) playback with start/pause/stop functionality. During cobrowsing sessions, some solutions can display multiple labeled cursors and on-screen highlighting tools. Additionally, some modern cobrowsing solutions will also offer observation capabilities whereby a second person can view a live web browsing session, but not participate in its navigation. Cobrowsing is difficult to implement due to the essential confidence requirements to share any real-time experience, and strong resistance provided by OS and browser security mechanisms. Cobrowsing technology has many inherent challenges such as page personalizations or sites that require user authentication, but many leading cobrowsing solutions are now able to overcome many of these challenges. When used in conjunction with communication channels like live chat, video chat, or voice calls, cobrowsing has been shown to greatly improve both online sales and customer support.

Developers of cobrowsing software

A number of companies such as eGain, Recursive Labs, Glance Networks and

Pegasystems Pegasystems Inc. is an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1983, Pegasystems develops software for customer relationship management (CRM) and business process management (BPM). The company has been publicly tr ...

are known for developing software for cobrowsing, or have acquired cobrowsing companies. Surfly and Upscope have uniquely developed code-less proxy cobrowsing whereby neither a javascript snippet or an extension is required to cobrowse. Recursive Labs develops cobrowsing mobile SDKs and CRM software that integrates with video chat. Recursive Labs and Glance Networks provide patented cobrowse technology as part of a visual engagement platform. The company has integrations with customer relationship management (CRM) tools, such as

Salesforce Salesforce, Inc. is an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It provides customer relationship management (CRM) software and applications focused on sales, customer service, marketing automation, a ...

Microsoft Dynamics Microsoft Dynamics is a line of Business Applications, containing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM). Microsoft markets Dynamics applications through a network of reselling partners who provide speciali ...

, Genesys,

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, and

Zendesk Zendesk is an American company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It provides software-as-a-service products related to customer support, sales, and other customer communications. The company was founded in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2007. ...

. In 2014,

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...

purchased LiveLOOK for its cobrowsing technology. Also in 2014,

acquired the cobrowsing tool Firefly, which was developed by a startup from

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

funded by

First Round Capital First Round is a venture capital firm that specializes in providing seed-stage funding to technology companies. Founded by Josh Kopelman Joshua Kopelman is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and philanthropist. Kopelman is best ...

References

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History of cobrowsing software

Developers of cobrowsing software

See also

References

Further reading