Systems and methods for enabling internet co-browsing

Abstract

Systems and methods for enabling co-browsing are provided herein. A device, such as a web server, may execute a browser application that initiates co-browsing capabilities between a host computing device and one or more guest computing devices. Activatable code is injected and/or otherwise embedded in one or more web pages. Subsequently, using the activatable code, web browser information on the host computing device is obtained and processed for display on the one or more guest computing devices.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for enabling co-browsing comprising:
 receiving a selection of a button by a user and in response to the selection of the button, initiating a co-browsing session between a guest computing device and a host computing device by:   activating injector code embedded within a webpage displayed in a first web browser displayed at the host computing device, the injector code generating a second web browser that automatically captures a portion of the webpage displayed within the first web browser, the second web browser displayed at the guest computing device; and   during the co-browsing session, continuously serving a first web browser viewport comprising an exact reproduction of the portion of the webpage at the second web browser, wherein the exact reproduction includes a pixel-by-pixel rendering of the portion of the webpage, transmitting instructions to generate the exact reproduction to be processed by the second web browser to render the exact reproduction, and generating a visible status message that is displayed on the first web browser and the second browser indicating that the co-browsing session is active.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying a user interface including a first input field to receive identification data and a second input field to receive website data identifying a website; and   receiving a name of the user as the identification data and a uniform resource locator (URL) as the website data.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying a user interface including a first input field to receive identification data identifying the user and a second input field to receive guest data identifying the guest computing device; and   receiving a name of the user as the identification data and guest invitee information that identifies the guest computing device as the guest data.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising continuously serving the first web browser viewport at the second web browser using Javascript. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising obscuring the at least one portion of the webpage at the second web browser. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying on the first web browser and the second web browser, a name of the user and a name associated with the guest computing device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying on the first web browser and the second web browser, a labeled mouse pointer of the user and a labeled mouse pointer associated with the guest computing device. 
     
     
         8 . A system for enabling co-browsing comprising:
 a host computing device for displaying a webpage in a first web browser;   a guest computing device for engaging in a co-browsing session with the host computing device;   a memory comprising computer-executable instructions; and   a computing device comprising at least one processor to execute the computer-executable instructions to:   receive a selection of a button by a user and in response to the selection of the button, activate injector code embedded within a webpage displayed in the first web browser displayed at the host computing device, the injector code generating a second web browser that automatically captures a portion of the webpage displayed within the first web browser, the second web browser displayed at the guest computing device; and   during the co-browsing session, continuously serve a first web browser viewport comprising an exact reproduction of the portion of the webpage at the second web browser, wherein the exact reproduction includes a pixel-by-pixel rendering of the portion of the webpage, transmit instructions to generate the exact reproduction to be processed by the second web browser to render the exact reproduction, and generate a visible status message that is displayed on the first web browser and the second browser indicating that the co-browsing session is active.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , the at least one processor further to:
 display a user interface including a first input field to receive identification data and a second input field to receive website data identifying a website; and   receive a name of the user as the identification data and a uniform resource locator (URL) as the website data.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , the at least one processor further to:
 display a user interface including a first input field to receive identification data identifying the user and a second input field to receive guest data identifying the guest computing device; and   receive a name of the user as the identification data and guest invitee information that identifies the guest computing device as the guest data.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , the at least one processor further to continuously serve the first web browser viewport at the second web browser using Javascript. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , the at least one processor further to obscure the at least one portion of the webpage at the second web browser. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , the at least one processor further to execute the computer-executable instructions to display on the first web browser and the second web browser, a name of the user and a name associated with the guest computing device. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , the at least one processor further to execute the computer-executable instructions to display on the first web browser and the second web browser, a labeled mouse pointer of the user and a labeled mouse pointer associated with the guest computing device. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations for enabling co-browsing, comprising:
 receiving a selection of a button by a user and in response to the selection of the button, initiating a co-browsing session between a guest computing device and a host computing device by:   activating injector code embedded within a webpage displayed in a first web browser displayed at the host computing device, the injector code generating a second web browser that automatically captures a portion of the webpage displayed within the first web browser, the second web browser displayed at the guest computing device;   during the co-browsing session, continuously serving a first web browser viewport comprising an exact reproduction of the portion of the webpage at the second web browser, wherein the exact reproduction includes a pixel-by-pixel rendering of the portion of the webpage, transmitting instructions to generate the exact reproduction to be processed by the second web browser to render the exact reproduction, and generating a visible status message that is displayed on the first web browser and the second web browser indicating that the co-browsing session is active.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , the operations further comprising:
 displaying a user interface including a first input field to receive identification data and a second input field to receive website data identifying a website; and   receiving a name of the user as the identification data and a uniform resource locator (URL) as the website data.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , the operations further comprising:
 displaying a user interface including a first input field to receive identification data identifying the user and a second input field to receive guest data identifying the guest computing device; and   receiving a name of the user as the identification data and guest invitee information that identifies the guest computing device as the guest data.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , the operations further comprising continuously serving the first web browser viewport at the second web browser using Javascript. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , the operations further comprising obscuring at least one portion of the webpage at the second web browser. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , the operations further comprising displaying on the first web browser and the second web browser, a name of the user and a name associated with the guest computing device. 
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , the operations further comprising displaying on the first web browser and the second web browser, a labeled mouse pointer of the user and a labeled mouse pointer associated with the guest computing device.