What is co-browsing?
Co-browsing is a support technique where an agent sees the customer's browser tab in real time and can optionally control it. It is dramatically more effective than asking the customer to describe what they see, especially for older or less technical users.
How it works
A small JavaScript snippet on the page captures DOM changes and streams them to a co-browse server. The agent's dashboard renders the DOM as it changes. With permission, the agent can move the cursor, type, and click on the customer's behalf. The customer can revoke control with one click.
Security considerations
Co-browsing is more invasive than screen sharing because it operates inside a logged-in session. Best practices: mask sensitive fields (credit card, SSN) before streaming, log every co-browse session, require explicit per-session consent, and time-box sessions to 30 minutes.
When to use it
Best for high-touch onboarding, complex form completion, and elderly or technical-novice customer segments. Not worth the cost for high-volume low-touch support. Co-browsing is on the message.com roadmap rather than in production today.
See it working on message.com.
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