Co-Browsing

Three months ago I wrote about the need to have Group Browsing (also called Collaborative Browsing or Co-Browsing)and these says I found out that there's already software for this assignment. It seems that this software is having a lot of technical problems but anyhow it makes me happy to know that there are new possibilities to reduce illiteracy.

Background:
http://lieber. www. media. mit. edu/people/lieber/Lieberary/Lets-Browse/Lets-Browse. html
Web browsing, like most of today's desktop applications, is usually a solitary activity. Other forms of media, such as watching television, are often done by groups of people, such as families or friends. What would it be like to do collaborative Web browsing? Could the computer provide assistance to group browsing by trying to help find mutual interests among the participants?
Increasingly, Web browsing will be performed in collaborative settings, such as a family at home or in a business meeting. For example, WebTV estimates that the average number of people who are watching during a session with its service is two, indicating that multi-user browsing is the norm rather than the exception. In most such situations, one person has control of the remote or the keyboard and mouse, and the others present are relatively passive. Yet the browsing session can't be considered successful if the interests of others present are not taken into account.
Collaborative browsing (also known as co-browsing) is a software-enabled technique that allows someone in an enterprise contact center to interact with a customer by using the customer's Web browser to show them something. For example, a B2B customer having difficulty placing an order could call a customer service representative who could then show the customer how to use the ordering pages as though the customer were using their own mouse and keyboard. Collaborative browsing can include e-mail, fax, regular telephone, and Internet phone contact as part of an interaction. Effectively, collaborative browsing allows a company and a customer to "be on the same page. "

See a detailed description on how Co-Browsing works on
http://www.oregonlibraries.net/staff/?p=243

http://www.kolabora.com/news/2004/11/29/towards_a_new_generation_of.htm
Web touring (also known as co-browsing or collaborative browsing) is the ability to drive multiple participants to access a sequence of selected Web pages simultaneously.
For example, a customer having difficulty placing an order could call a customer service representative who could then enable co-browsing to see exactly what's on the customer's screen.
The must-have features of an ideal real-time Web conferencing system Web Touring and Co-Browsing facility include:
Pushing a Web page allows the presenter to force a specific Web page to appear on the end user screen…
Preview feature allows the presenter/moderator to literally pre-view a Web page before broadcasting it to all of the meeting participants.
The Hand-over control feature allows the presenter/moderator in a co-browsing session to give control of the Web tour to any one of the participants in the session.
The pre-caching feature allows the automatic and invisible pre-downloading of the Web pages to be viewed during a co-browsing session across all attendees.
Co-scrolling provides the ability to scroll Web pages simultaneously with all meeting participants. When the presenter scrolls a Web page, it simultaneously scrolls on all participants’ screens.
A shared pointing tool allows the presenter to show the mouse cursor to participants in real time over the Web page being shown.


New software:

http://www.masternewmedia.org/skype/co-browsing/co-browsing_and_call-forwarding_with_Jyve_20050720.htm
Co-browse web pages in synch with any Skype contact through a custom dedicated browser…By downloading a Skype plugin called Jyve…

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2005/08/23/googe-talk-review/
Google Talk…another big feature they're working on is "joint search," which would allow two or more Google Talk buddies using Google and surfing the web together. This would be a natural segue to the fabled Google Browser, but there is as yet no confirmation from Google.

http://educational.blogs.com/instructional_technology_/2005/01/collaborative_b.html
Advanced Reality Inc., a company specializing in peer-to-peer collaboration technology, has recently announced Jybe, a free beta release of a new browser based collaboration service.

http://www.mozillazine.org/talkback.html?article=5979
Jack Mott writes: "Our Company, Advanced Reality, recently released a new product as an open beta. Jybe is an extension for Firefox that allows you to link your browser together to one or more friends' browsers and allows you to chat and browse the web together. Initial features included full frames support, chat, and a powerpoint presentation system, with more to come. Additionally, our plugin for Firefox is cross compatible with our identical plugin for Internet Explorer.

http://www.tametheweb.com/ttwblog/archives/001266.html
So what's HOT about Jybe 2.0: An intuitive Create Session that features a Notify button so you can invite folks to your jybe session via email.
I am intrigued as usual by something that seems so simple to use that could make the VR folks sit up and take notice.

http://www.mozillazine.org/talkback.html?article=6632
Jack writes: "Jybe Beta2 has been released and addresses many of the suggestions we received from MozillaZine readers. Jybe allows Firefox and/or IE users to connect their browsers together. New features include collaborative text entry and scrolling, and Firefox users can now opt to hide the toolbar if they find it intrusive." We reported on the first Jybe beta in January.
http://google. weblogsinc. com/2005/08/24/googles-roar-sidebar-and-google-talk-in-one-week
Google is directing its community development toward group search or group browsing, and we all know what that leads to: The mythical Gbrowser. Everyone and their four-year-old kid has speculated on the possibility of a Google browser; this week's browser-like Sidebar certainly points in that direction.

http://citeseer. ist. psu. edu/555878. html
This paper presents a model of a system that enhances the current features of the Net by providing the users a facility to securely browse the Internet together. It thus provides the 'feeling of togetherness' on the Internet. The proposed system is generic and thus can be used to 'group enable' any existing and running site. It is a module that can be plugged onto existing systems without affecting their normal behavior. It would thus make concepts such as group shopping, group Medicare.

http://www.liveperson.com/sb/cobrowse.asp
With LivePerson's new Co-Browsing system, your Sales and Service Agents can assist your visitors in the completion of online forms and transactions. It has been designed to be fast, easy to use, and versatile.