Best cobrowsing solution
How to choose the right co-browsing solution for your business
As customer support, sales, and onboarding move online, cobrowsing has become a critical capability. If you're evaluating your options, this cobrowsing software selection guide explains what to look for, what to avoid, and how Cobrowse by Zoho Assist holds up against the most important criteria.
What is cobrowsing, and why is it essential for customer operations?
Cobrowsing (collaborative browsing) is a functionality that allows an agent and a customer to view, navigate, and interact with the same webpage in real time during a live support session. It helps reduce verbal explanations with visual guidance because agents can highlight elements, scroll through the page together, help in form completion, or troubleshoot webpage issues.
Cobrowsing is essential for customer operations because it helps streamline support processes to result in faster resolutions, better customer experience, and higher conversions.
How cobrowsing differs from screen sharing
- Cobrowsing and screen sharing may sound like interchangeable terms, but they’re entirely different in terms of what’s being shared.
- In screen sharing, a presenter shares their entire screen with a remote user. It’s a GPU-intensive process that involves encoding, transmission, decoding, and rendering of all the contents on the user’s screen. Only the presenter can control their screen while the remote user can view and annotate on it. If the presenter swaps screens with them, they can control their own screen during the broadcast.
- On the other hand, cobrowsing allows a remote agent and a visitor to view a website together, scroll through it, and annotate on it. This works only when the website has the cobrowsing script embedded in it. Instead of sharing the screen, it uses DOM synchronization to relay the actions taken, leading to stable and low latency connections.
What are the key features to look for in a cobrowsing solution?
Every cobrowsing buying guide narrows down to the same core question: does this platform actually do what your team needs? These are the key features to consider when evaluating options in the market.
Browser-based software
The best solutions are the ones that are easy to use for the customer without any friction. Cobrowsing software must work entirely on the browser and shouldn’t require any plugins, apps, or installations from the customer side.
Performance and scalability
The best solution is lightweight, fast, and reliable—even at scale. The script that enables cobrowsing for a website must be efficient and lightweight so that it doesn’t slow down the entire website and impact SEO stats negatively.
Device and platform compatibility
With most users spending time on mobiles or tablets, a cobrowsing solution that works on these devices have a higher competitive edge and increased positive engagement. It should function seamlessly across desktop browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge, and mobile or tablet browser (iOS and Android) without losing performance.
Visual guidance tools
A strong cobrowsing platform comes with visual aids like laser pointer or annotation tools to help agents highlight fields or buttons, drawing customer attention to it instantly. These tools come in handy while filling extensive forms or for finding certain hyperlinks or buttons on a website.
Built-in privacy and security
Privacy and security are non-negotiables in cobrowsing tools. The top cobrowsing tools will automatically mask sensitive fields (passwords, payments, PII) to ensure data protection and require customer consent for higher-level access and control. Encryptions are key to maintaining session and portal security and ensuring the customer’s interests are safeguarded. Additionally, it should be compliant with data protection regulations such as GDPR, PCI, and HIPAA.
Why Cobrowse by Zoho Assist is considered one of the best cobrowsing solutions
Cobrowse by Zoho Assist is a practical example of what modern businesses look for in a cobrowsing platform. It supports real-time mobile cobrowsing that’s optimized for touch interactions. It’s primed for GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI compliance, and helps your business provide seamless, secure support for your customers.
Key benefits of using cobrowsing software
The right cobrowsing platform does more than tick feature boxes—it reshapes how your team works and how work gets done. When the fit is right, the payoff shows up everywhere: in your support metrics, your conversion rates, and the confidence your customers feel.
Faster resolutions, fewer repeat contacts
When an agent can see exactly what a customer sees, the back-and-forth stops. Cobrwsing cuts down the time it takes to diagnose a problem and act on it. This means shorter handle times for your support team and fewer follow-up tickets for the same issue.
Higher customer satisfaction
Words alone aren't enough sometimes. A customer who hears "scroll down and click the blue button" may still be lost. Swap that for live highlights on the page and they get the point immediately, driving your customer satisfaction scores right up.
Better conversion rates for sales and onboarding
Prospects can get stuck on a pricing page or can't figure out how to start a trial, leading to increased drop-offs. A well-timed Cobrowse session can clear this roadblock before they close the tab, giving new users a renewed confidence to keep going.
Reduced dependency on screen sharing
Screen sharing is an intensive process that often requires a download and higher bandwidths. Cobrowsing is browser-based so there is no need for plugins, installs, or asking the customer to share their entire desktop. To sum it up, it's a cleaner experience for everyone.
Stronger data protection
Selecting a cobrowsing platform should always include a hard look at privacy. Built-in field masking means sensitive information never enters the agent's view. Customers trust you more when they know their data is actually protected rather than a promise on paper.
Scalable across teams and use cases
Whether you're a two-person support team or an enterprise with thousands of agents, a well-built cobrowsing solution grows with you. The best platforms are lightweight enough to deploy with a single script but robust enough to handle volume without slowing down your website or your team.
Key functionalities of Cobrowse by Zoho Assist
- Real-time collaborative browsing
- No downloads or screen sharing required
- Mobile and desktop support
- Easy deployment with a single script
- On-demand cobrowse sessions
- Advanced field masking for sensitive data
- Visual guidance tools for accurate inputs
- No session recording to ensure compliance
- Auditable session logs
- Custom reports for cobrowse activities
Where the best cobrowsing platform creates the most impact
Whenever you hear customers saying “I’m stuck” or “I don’t see that,” that’s where cobrowsing can be a game changer. That includes:
- Customer support teams
- Sales and pre-sales teams
- Onboarding and success teams
- Banking and financial service providers
- Educational programs
- Telecom services
- E-commerce brands
- SaaS companies
Get Cobrowse by Zoho Assist, the cobrowsing software for business.
Frequently asked questions
The most important features you need to look for when choosing the best cobrowsing tool are security, performance and ease of use. Security translates to field masking, compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI, and auditable session logs. DOM synchronization and browser-based functionalities ensure low latency and high performance while universal cobrowsing and compatibility across devices help ensure ease of use.
Yes, cobrowsing is secure while handling sensitive data, especially if the cobrowsing software has all the necessary tools in place. Some popular measures taken for protecting sensitive data are field masking or blacklisting elements, session encryption, consent-based access, and non-recordable sessions. This keeps your customer's data safe while your agent provides visual support.
Yes, if the cobrowsing software is browser-based and built for mobile experience and interactions, then cobrowsing will work seamlessly on mobile browsers as well. Cobrowse by Zoho Assist is easy to use and makes mobile cobrowsing simple for customers.
Customers do not need to install anything if the cobrowsing software works entirely on browsers. Business owners just have to embed a script on their website to enable cobrowsing and all the customer has to do is join the session on receiving the session link.
While evaluating different options, these are the questions you need to ask before choosing the right cobrowsing software for your business.
- Does it require a download? - If yes, then you may need to consider a different option.
- Will it mask sensitive data? - Customer privacy is non-negotiable.
- Does it work on desktop and mobile? - Ensure cross-device compatibility for seamless support.
- Will I get audit logs for sessions? - Audit logs are essential to maintain accountability.
- Will it slow down my website? - Cobrowsing shouldn't affect your core web vitals.
Unlike phone, chat, or screen sharing, cobrowsing provides visual guidance without downloads while maintaining privacy and compliance.