What is Genesys Co-browse?

Overview

Genesys Co-browse provides the ability for an agent and the end customer to browse and navigate the same web page at the same time. In a Genesys Co-browse session, both the agent and the customer share the same instance of the screen, as opposed to a conventional screen sharing application, where one of the parties sees an image of the other party's browser instance.

Components

Genesys Co-browse is composed of the following components:

• Genesys Co-browse Server is a server-side component that is responsible for orchestrating the co-browsing activities between the end consumer and the agent.
• Genesys Co-browse Plug-in for Workspace Desktop Edition provides co-browsing functionality for Workspace Desktop Edition users.
• Genesys Co-browse Sample Reporting Templates provides configuration files and reporting templates for getting real-time and historical statistic data.
• Genesys Co-browse JavaScript includes Chat and Co-browse functionality. You should add this component to the pages on your website where you want to enable co-browsing. See Website Instrumentation.

Features

Genesys Co-browse includes the following features:

• Active participation—both the agent and the customer have the ability to take control.
• Browsing always happens on the customer side.
• Administrators are able to restrict what the agent can do and see on the web page. The customer can easily identify which fields are masked from the agent. Administrators can easily specify which DOM elements (buttons, check boxes, and so on) the agent must not be able to control.
• Pointer Mode and Write Mode—Co-browse sessions begin in Pointer Mode where the agent cannot enter information for the customer. The agent may send the customer a request to enter Write Mode where the agent can enter information for the customer. The customer must agree to enter Write Mode. You may also disable Write Mode and make all sessions Pointer Mode only. DOM Restrictions and Data Masking apply to both Pointer and Write Mode.
• Support for multiple browsers, cross-browser support, and same-browser support.

  Support for scenarios in which the agent and customer are using different browsers.

  Support for scenarios in which the agent and customer are using different versions of the same browser.

• The customer can co-browse without downloading or installing any plug-ins.
• Co-browse keeps an agent's internal traffic contained within the internal network while still allowing the customer traffic to flow through the external network.

Browser Support

See Tested Browsers for a list of Genesys-tested browsers for web and mobile.

Warning

We strongly advise against IE Conditional Comments.

Important

Interaction Workspace uses only Internet Explorer as the embedded browser for working with Co-browse sessions.

Hardware Requirements

See Sizing Information for details.

Related Components

Genesys Co-browse interacts with the following Genesys Products:

• Workspace Desktop Edition — The Genesys Co-browse Plug-in for Workspace Desktop Edition is required to interface Genesys Workspace Desktop Edition with Genesys Co-browse. This plug-in enables the agent to join and terminate a co-browsing session with a customer.
• Genesys Widgets—a set of productized widgets that are optimized for use with desktop and mobile web clients, and which are based on the GMS APIs. Genesys Widgets provide for an easy integration with Co-browse, allowing you to proactively serve these widgets to your web-based customers.

For a full list of related components see Related Components.

Important

For supported operating systems and a list of other required/compatible non-Genesys components, see Genesys Co-browse in the Genesys Supported Operating Environment Reference Guide.

Genesys Co-browse 8.1.3+ and Previous Co-Browsing Solutions

The Genesys Co-browse 8.1.3+ solution should not be associated with the Web API Cobrowse Samples. These samples work with the old KANA-based Co-Browsing Server and do not work with this new Co-browse solution; however, you may use a chat interaction started from the Web API Chat Samples to initiate a new Co-browse session from an instrumented page with an agent.

Important

Genesys strongly recommends that you use the Co-browse chat widget to initiate a Co-browse session with an agent. This chat widget is designed to work with the new Co-browse solution in the most optimal way. Agents do not even need to paste the Co-browse session ID manually into their screen - the Co-browse page is opened automatically once the customer clicks the "Co-browsing" button during a live chat.

For more information about how to work with the Co-browse chat widget, see the following sections:

• Initiating a Co-browse session from an integrated chat
• Genesys Co-browse and Chat

For more information about how to work with external chats like the Web API Chat Samples, see:

• Initiating a co-browse session from a voice call or external chat without integration
• External Chat without Integration

Restrictions and Known Limitations

See Co-browse Restrictions and Known Limitations.