What is co-browsing and how does it work for customer interaction?
Video
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Sep 16, 2021
Key Takeaways
Co-browsing (collaborative browsing) lets an agent and customer navigate the same webpage together in real time, making remote support far more intuitive than traditional screen sharing.
Unlike screen sharing, co-browsing is interactive and synchronous—both participants can point, click, scroll, annotate, and guide each other directly on the page.
Bird Video enables secure co-browsing during a video call or by escalating from an existing chat or phone session, without requiring any downloads or installations.
Co-browsing provides tightly controlled access, allowing customers to approve sessions and restrict sensitive fields (e.g., credit card numbers, account balances) so agents cannot view them.
It offers a more personal and interactive experience, helping customers complete forms, applications, or complex workflows with guided support.
Unlike Zoom or Teams, which only allow one-way screen sharing without built-in collaborative browsing, Bird’s co-browsing is specifically designed for customer engagement, privacy, and usability.
Co-browsing enhances sales demos, onboarding, and financial advisory sessions by visually walking customers through tools, calculations, or digital portals.
It improves UX insights by showing how customers navigate your site in real time, allowing agents to identify pain points and inform better design decisions.
For agents, co-browsing reduces misunderstandings, resolves questions faster, increases first-time fixes, and boosts conversion rates by creating a guided, in-person-like digital experience.
Q&A Highlights
What is co-browsing?
Co-browsing is collaborative browsing, where an agent and customer navigate the same webpage simultaneously, interacting directly with shared elements.
How is co-browsing different from screen sharing?
Screen sharing is one-way and non-interactive, while co-browsing is two-way, collaborative, and restricted only to the specific webpage being shared.
Does the user need to install anything?
No installation is required. Co-browsing works directly in the browser over the internet.
How is co-browsing started in Bird Video?
Agents can initiate co-browsing during a video call with an invite link or escalate from an existing chat or phone session.
Can customers control when co-browsing begins?
Yes — co-browsing only starts after the customer approves a pop-up request and enters the passcode.
Can agents see sensitive data?
No. You can mask fields such as credit card details or account balances so they’re hidden during the session.
Can agents take over a customer’s device?
No. Agents can point, click, and navigate only within the authorized webpage, but cannot control a customer’s computer.
How does co-browsing improve support?
Agents can visually guide customers through forms, processes, or documents, resolving questions faster and reducing confusion.
Does co-browsing work outside of video calls?
Yes — it can be used in contact centers as an escalation from chat or phone interactions.
What are practical use cases?
Interactive support, form completion, financial advisory, sales demos, onboarding, and real-time UX review.
Is co-browsing secure?
Yes. It uses strict access control, customer approval, masking options, and session boundaries to protect privacy.
How does it benefit agents?
It reduces handling time, prevents misunderstandings, increases first-time resolutions, and supports more effective sales and service workflows.
Co-browsing is short for 'collaborating browsing' - simultaneously navigating the same web page with your customer. We all know the frustration of having to try to explain in words where to click on a web page, or how to fill out a form correctly… Not efficient, not very engaging, not helpful - even if you’re screen sharing.
There’s a much easier way to interact with customers on a screen: co-browsing. It allows you and your customer to navigate the same web page together, at the same time! Learn what co-browsing is and how to use it for remote customer contact in this blog.
Below, we break down what co-browsing is, how it works, and where it adds the most value in customer interactions.
What is co-browsing?
Co-browsing stands for 'collaborative browsing’, meaning when two people navigate the same web page - at the same time.
That way both participants in a co-browsing session can see what the other person is doing on screen. And they can show how they’re navigating the web page themselves, by typing, navigating, moving the mouse and drawing on the shared web page.
For remote contact with customers, co-browsing allows your agents to securely browse a website together with a customer. On a Bird video call, agents browse the same web page together with a customer real-time during the video call. The great thing is, it all works over the internet - no-one has to download and install any software to co-browse.
In short, co-browsing helps you to make talking to your advisors via a video call even more personal and interactive for your customers.
Co-browsing vs screen sharing: what’s the difference?
The number 1 difference between co-browsing and screen sharing, is that co-browsing is interactive - or ‘collaborative’. It’s no one-way traffic but instead allows both your agent and the customer joining in a video call to actively browse together.
And on top of being collaborative, co-browsing is simultaneous or synchronous. Screen sharing, on the other hand, is always asynchronous: only one person at a time can share their screen. For example, only after the customer is done screen sharing can an agent take over to show what they’re looking at on their screen.
Also, co-browsing has more strictly demarcated access. Where a co-browse session only gives access to simultaneous browsing on a specific web page, screen sharing allows the viewer to see the sharer’s entire tab, browser or application.
Feature | Co-browsing | Screen sharing |
|---|---|---|
Interaction model | Two-way, collaborative | One-way, presenter-driven |
Timing | Synchronous | Asynchronous |
User control | Agent and customer act together | Only one person controls at a time |
Access scope | Limited to selected webpage | Entire screen, tab, or application |
Privacy risk | Low, controlled | Higher, broad visibility |
Customer engagement | High | Medium to low |
How does co-browsing work?
Co-browsing is easy to use. For most Customer Interaction solutions, it works with just a click on a button or an invitation link, then followed by a check for either the agent or the customer to authorize the co-browse session.
You can easily start co-browsing while on a video call with a customer. In Bird Video, there are 2 ways to prompt a session:
You can co-browse during a video call, by sending the customer an invitation link to co-navigate a specific, pre-selected web page together.
Or agents can start co-browsing ad hoc, by way of escalation. When a customer is already navigating a web page himself, the agent initiates a co-browsing session from that page. The client is then prompted by a pop-up message to accept the co-browsing session.
Both the customer and the agent can end a co-browsing session any time during the video call.
Step | Action | Who initiates | Customer control |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Session invitation sent | Agent | Accept or decline |
2 | Authorization prompt shown | System | Passcode required |
3 | Shared page loads | System | Can navigate freely |
4 | Live co-navigation | Agent + customer | Equal interaction |
5 | Session ends | Either party | Immediate termination |
The cool thing? Your client doesn't necessarily need to be on a Bird Video call already. This means you can also use co-browsing for your Contact Center, for example, as an upgrade from a chat conversation or phone call that you’re already in with a customer. As soon as the customer accepts, he starts navigating the same web page as the agent, in real-time.
How co-browsing compares to Zoom and Microsoft Teams
You can share you screen, but Zoom and Microsoft Teams don’t offer the option to co-browse by default. It is only available by adding an extension by a third-party co-browsing provider (Zoom has a solution for requesting 'Remote control' over another user’s desktop, but this is a one-way control - without interaction).
That’s because solutions like Zoom or Teams are not optimised for video calling with customers. The benefit of using technology for Customer Engagement is that it’s always secure for your customers and doesn’t require anyone to download any software.
Is co-browsing secure? What about privacy?
Yes, cobrowsing with customers is secure. If you want to co-browse in a customer interaction setting, the technology for Customer Engagement that you use should have several security mechanisms in place.
Co-browsing with Bird Video is entirely secure. It protects your customer's privacy. A cobrowse session can only be activated with the client’s permission: when an agent would like to start co-browsing, customers always receive a pop-up message to give access. They are then asked to enter a passcode before the co-browsing session can start.
Security mechanism | Purpose | Customer benefit |
|---|---|---|
Explicit permission prompt | Prevents unauthorized sessions | Full consent control |
Passcode requirement | Session-level authentication | Reduced hijack risk |
Field masking | Hides sensitive data | Financial & identity protection |
Page-level restriction | Limits agent visibility | No access to full device |
Manual session termination | Immediate exit option | Total session control |
And for privacy reasons, sensitive customer information can be hidden from agents to see. You can choose to add custom mask fields to ‘my environment’ or personal login pages on your website, so the agent won’t be able to view a client’s credit card number or balance, for example.
Agents cannot take over control of the customer’s computer. When they co-browse, this only allows them to see, click or draw on a client’s screen when navigating pre-selected web pages (with a special code installed). Both the agent and the customer can choose to end a co-browsing session at any moment.
