Co-browsing also known as collaborative browsing is a browser based solution that allows business teams to view and manage the customers website or app in real time for sales or customer support assistance.
In modern applications, co-browsing is a part of visual engagement suite along with live chat and video chat to provide complete live assistance to your customers and website visitors.
Live engagement takes your customer interactions to next level by bringing true efficiency and removing the need of multiple touch points to resolve any issue. Your customers can literally get the answers in one session and get a truly engaging experience wherever they are.
How co-browsing works?
Co-browsing solution allows agents to view and manage customers browser with a single click. Modern co-browsing solutions which are built with WebRTC technology, do not require the customers do install or download any plugins. And hence the co-browsing session can be done with a hassle free experience.
How co-browsing is different than screen sharing?
Though both co-browsing and screen sharing sound familiar and also have common features, they are different in terms of their applications and the businesses can use both of them efficiently based on their needs.
Co-browsing gives agents the control to guide customers during their online journey by helping them taking an action while filling up a form or taking certain action.
Screen sharing on the other hand, only allows the agents to view the customers screen and does not allow them to control customers screen.
What are the most common use cases of co-browsing?
Co-browsing is an advanced way for helping your customers to resolve complex issues when they need your most help. Co-browsing along with video chat and live chat is a perfect combination of tools to provide live engagement to your customers for various use cases.
Sales
Co-browsing helps business to engage website visitors to assist in real time to make them timely decision. Sales agents can help the visitors to assist with navigation or form fill ups when they are on your website with sales conversion and lead generation.
For example, a customer wants to buy an insurance plan online but looking at many options he in not sure which plan is right for him. In such cases, he needs to call to the company hotline to know more about the plan and services but the call center agent may not be aware on these plans or what information the customer was looking at.
Customer support
If your business needs to provide virtual support or remote technical support then your customer support team can manage it effectively with the help of co-browsing, screen sharing and video chat. Co-browsing add a visual engagement touch to provide high touch customer service that businesses need to differentiate themselves.
Some of the key areas where your agents can provide better customer support with co-browsing are,
Website support: Assist your website visitors with the help they need when they are on your website.
Help desk support: Your agents can co-browse with your customers inside your app or portal when they need any help using your product or performing any action.
Inside mobile apps: You can integrate mobile SDK with your apps to help your users inside the apps so that users can get support instantly.
Product demos
If you are a SaaS product or any other business where you need to help your customers with product demos or customer onboarding then co-browsing can be your right tool.
When your customers are inside your product and need help to take any action, for example how to integrate or analyze any data, your product support team can provide an interactive demo to make sure your customers know how to use your product efficiently.
Forms
If you need to help your customers to fill up any forms or submit applications then co-browsing is the best way to help your customers with virtual assistant. It’s almost the same as an in-person experience but with more effectiveness.
Imagine for banking or financial institution, your customer needs to submit a loan or insurance claim application. Your agents can now help them with co-browsing to make sure they are able to submit the form properly along with other docs.
Is co browsing secured?
Yes. Co-browsing does not allow the agent to see any other data on its desktop or computer. Also the customers need to approve the request before the agents can start the co-browsing session. Customers can also end the co-browsing session at any time if they wish to terminate the discussion.
During the session, agents can not see the sensitive customer information such as his credit card or personal details. Hence all the customer data is completely protected and is not stored on any devices.
Does co-browsing require any plugins or installations?
Most desktop sharing applications need installation an executable file or plugin to initiate the co-browsing. However, most of the advanced co-browsing solutions are built using WebRTC. Web real time communication (WebRTC) is a browser based technology that allows peer to peer communication between two browsers without the need of any installations or plugins.
Since co-browsing does not require any installation, it also protects the conversations from any malware attacks or threats. Co-browsing built using WebRTC also support most of the modern browsers and devices including mobile browsers.
How to set up co-browsing for my website?
In-order to set up co-browsing on your website or inside your app, please follow the below steps.
Look for co-browsing solution that meets your business requirements (Hint: look for complete live customer engagement platform that brings the power of co-browsing, video chat and live chat in one tool)
- Integrate the code snippet in your website or inside your app (Follow this guide)
- Train your agents on how to use co-browsing
- Activate co-browsing from your dashboard so that your customers or website visitors can see and initiate the session
- Be ready with the common questions your customer may ask about co-browsing
- Make sure your mask all important data for protection
- Your agents can now
- Instantly connect with your customers and deliver a better engaging experience
