Integrating Co-Browsing with Other Forms of Information Sharing

Abstract

A co-browse service uses JavaScript to allow a web page shown in a user's browser to be viewed remotely. Updates to the web page are rendered into HTML and forwarded on the co-browse session. Aspects of the web page that should not be visible are specified in a list of masked elements which prevents the JavaScript from transmitting the content of those elements on the co-browse session. A person viewing the web page at the remote location can select objects to have those objects highlighted within the user's browser. Likewise the person viewing the web page may manipulate the objects by selecting objects and entering information into the objects. Updates to the web page are collected and aggregated such that only the most recent updates are forwarded on the co-browse session. Updates that don't affect the DOM, such as hover state, are also transmitted on the session.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of International Application PCT / US2013 / 049615, filed Jul. 8, 2013, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 776,016, filed Mar. 11, 2013, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 673,629, filed Jul. 19, 2012, the content of each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.COPYRIGHT NOTICE[0002]A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the xerographic reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the form it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.FIELD[0003]The field relates to communication sessions and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for integrating co-browsing with other forms of information sharing.DESCRIPTION OF THE RELA...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a service called co-browse that allows customer service agents to view the web pages a customer is looking at. This helps the agent provide better assistance without accessing the customer's private data. The service uses ECMAScript to mirror the customer's web page view through a link to the agent. The view of the page depends on the current website's design and the customer's actions, like mouse position and scroll offsets. The agent only receives a snapshot of the page's initial design and any changes to it, but with this information they can offer assistance and make the customer's experience better.

Problems solved by technology

Unfortunately, the agent's ability to provide assistance may be hampered in this context by an inability of the agent to see the customer's view of the website.

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