Cobrowsing

Co-browsing, in the context of web browsing, is the navigation of the Internet by several people accessing the same web pages at the same time. Some tools achieve "pseudo-co-browsing" by communicating to each other pages that are being browsed manually (telephone, instant messaging). 'True' co-browsing supports automatic synchronization of the browsers' state, including frames, portlets, or even content of the form fields. Advanced co-browsers can identify complex media objects such as audio and video players and offer capability of synchronous (coordinated) playback with start/pause/stop functionality fully supported.

Co-browsing is very difficult to implement due to strong resistance provided by OS and browser security mechanisms. Co-browsing technology has inherent, insurmountable limitations such as page personalizations or sites that require user authentication. Such web application are better shared by a slower and more bandwidth intensive application sharing technique.

Useful links

• Instant Screen Sharing & Live Help Co Browsing
• Desktop Sharing & Online Presenter

See also

• Web conferencing solutions
• Online banking solutions
• Collaborative real-time editor