With screen sharing, the agent can see the client’s entire screen, including any open application windows and pop-up notifications. Screen sharing does not prevent agents from seeing personally identifiable information (PII), such as social security numbers, credit card information, passwords, date of birth, etc. Screen sharing is often used to help clients configure applications or resolve technical issues on their devices. Typical use cases include IT support and onboarding remote employees.
With co-browsing, the agent is limited to viewing only the content from a specific website on the client’s device. And unlike screen sharing, co-browsing offers the capability to mask personally identifiable information (PII) from the agent’s view. This is determined by code added to the website, meaning the client is not required to take any action to secure their personal data. Generally, co-browsing is used when clients access a website or web portal and become confused, and need assistance navigating the site.
Co-browsing is often the best choice for companies to support users of their eCommerce websites. If users have problems locating the items they want to view or purchase, an agent can help them navigate to the desired screen or selection, and then walk the client through the purchasing process where PII would need to be masked. Since the company owns the website, they can also mask sensitive information from the agent’s view, such as social security numbers, credit card details and account information.
ScreenMeet Live is screen sharing product that also records all transaction data for later review.
ScreenMeet CoBrowse is a product with co-browsing capabilities along with two-way audio and video between the agent and the client.
There is little difference from the customer’s perspective between the two service offerings.
If hiding sensitive client information is not a requirement, or if allowing the agent to view all open applications on the customer’s screen is important, then a simple screen sharing application is all that is needed. In addition, screen sharing is a much simpler deployment and avoids the need for the company to involve their web development team.
Ultimately, the choice between co-browsing and screen sharing comes down to whether it is important to hide PII from your help desk agents.