The co-browsing (collaborative browsing) feature of the IT Portal is now available to income-tax payers. This feature enables Helpdesk agents to safely navigate a taxpayer’s browser screen and lead them through an interactive session to provide real-time, customised support. Co-browsing is simple. It can quickly address taxpayers’ concerns via live chat, phone, etc.
How Co-Browsing can help Taxpayer service?
Co-browsing has many benefits for taxpayers, including seamless navigation, reduced average handling time, higher resolution rates, highlighted and annotated important points, easy use, easy integration, increased taxpayer satisfaction, and no need to install any plugins or apps.
The taxpayers can get advantage of the co-browsing function/ feature available on the income tax website during their session/ visit, as the Helpdesk agent gets an accurate visual representation of the Taxpayers browser screen.
Helpdesk Agents can annotate the taxpayers view of the screen, help to fill out ITR forms, other Statutory forms, change settings, complete transactions, find help and reference materials for tax payers and even upload documents.
Helpdesk Agents can help taxpayer to navigate, scroll, type text, and highlight areas of interest on the same browser tab in real-time.
Does co-browsing allow the Helpdesk agent to view other data?
No. The agent cannot see any other information on the taxpayer’s computer or desktop while co-browsing. Before the agents begin the co-browsing session, the Taxpayer must also approve the request. If the taxpayer wants to end the conversation, they can also end the co-browsing session at any time.
How Co-browsing Works at Income Tax website
The Co-Browser proxy receives a request from the taxpayer’s browser whenever a new session is initiated by the taxpayer. After that, the request is altered in such a way that it gives the impression that the initial request originated from the corbrowse.incometax.gov.in website. After that, the request is transmitted to the primary website that the leader wishes to co-browse. The response is then transmitted back to the Co-Browser proxy from the website. The data is then modified by the Co-Browser proxy so that it can be loaded into an iframe that sits on top of the original page. Because the website is now loaded inside of the iframe, both the leader and the follower can now interact with it. At this point, the only communication that occurs is between the browsers of the users and the proxy; the requests no longer need to be continuously sent to the website that was originally being accessed.
How can a Helpdesk agent initiate a co-browsing session with taxpayer?
Helpdesk Agent will be notified of incoming call while CRM window will pop up in front of agent. He will converse with the taxpayer and show them where on the income tax portal the co-browse button is located. The Taxpayer will be required to generate a PIN, which they must then share with the Agent. Agent should click on the CB button on CRM, which will then bring him to the co browse URL. Enter the PIN that was given to the agent by the taxpayer in the screen that is displayed to the agent, and then click the start session button. Once the Agent clicks the Start Session button, the co-browse session will begin, and the Agent will be able to guide the taxpayer. If the Taxpayer already knows the answers, he or she can click the “STOP” button at any time to end the process. The Agent will no longer be able to view the Taxpayer’s browser once the session has finished.
What distinguishes co-browsing from screen sharing?
| Co-browsing | Screen Sharing |
| Co-browsing is a more practical method of visual interaction because no software download is necessary. With the click of a button, agents can quickly connect to the Taxpayer’s browsers. | Before they can share their screens, both the agent and the taxpayer must install a third-party application such as Zoom or Google Meet. |
| Co-browsing gives the Taxpayer a much more private and secure experience because the agent can only see the active window of the Taxpayer’s browser and nothing else. | Service representatives can see the client’s entire desktop as well as any notifications that may appear. |
| The agent can perform specific actions on the client’s browser (such as highlight, annotate, click, and fill out forms), assisting Taxpayers by resolving their queries quickly. | During a screen sharing session, agents cannot perform any actions on the Taxpayer’s screen and can only provide oral instructions. |
| Most co-browsing software includes a data masking feature that hides Taxpayers’ confidential data (such as passwords) during a co-browsing session. | Data masking is not provided by screen sharing, allowing agents to see everything displayed on the Taxpayer’s screen. |