Abstract:
Troubleshooting, training, and other services that can be provided remotely to a user of an application, Web page, or similar component can take advantage of a lightweight approach to monitoring, viewing, and/or control. A page being viewed by a user can have client executable code contained therein, wherein actions of the user with respect to the page can generate events that can be sent to a remote queue, service, server, etc. A local copy of the page can be created that can be viewed and/or operated by a person providing the service to the user. A listener component can be configured to retrieve events from the queue, etc., and send those events to the local device such that the local copy can be updated, causing the local copy to accurately reflect what the user is seeing and doing with respect to the page.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     As the popularity of the Internet and other computer use increases, situations often arise where a customer or computer user needs assistance completing any of a number of complex tasks on their computer. For example, Web pages or application user interfaces can sometimes be difficult for users to navigate. In some cases, the page or interface may appear to be malfunctioning. In these and other situations, it is often useful for a technical support person or other remote assistant, for example, to assist the customer. A problem arises, however, because the remote assistant cannot see what the customer is seeing or what the customer is doing, particularly in the case of Web sites or applications with remote access. Because of this, the remote assistant often spends a long time talking the customer through how to use a Web site, for example, when the user is experiencing problems, and the remote assistant must troubleshoot problems based upon asking the right questions. It would be difficult or impossible, as well as expensive, for the remote assistant to be physically present at a remote site to manually assist a customer or user with use of the Web site. Accordingly, software has been developed to permit technical support or other personnel to help assist or manage various computer operations, including the use of Web sites and application pages, from a remote location. 
     One such class of software is known as desktop virtualization software. Desktop virtualization allows separation of the physical location of a personal computer desktop from the physical location of the user who is using that desktop. Desktop virtualization software permits input and output (I/O) from a keyboard, mouse and video display, among other possible elements or components, to be redirected across a network via certain types of desktop virtualization protocols such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) or Virtual Network Computing (VNC). A computer suitably equipped with such software may be controlled and accessed by a user at a remote location as if the computer is local to that user. It is possible, therefore, for technical support or other personnel to assist customers or users from a remote location with such software. 
     Use of such software is not, however, without significant drawbacks. For example, a customer or Web site user must typically download and install software in order for the remote assistant to monitor or view the user&#39;s browser or other interface. This may be inconvenient for the user for a number of reasons. First, the time it takes to download and install the software may be much more time than it will take the remote assistant to solve the user&#39;s problem. Second, the software itself may by heavy in terms of space. That is, the software may consume significant space on the computer that might otherwise be used for user files and the like. Oftentimes, such software enables the remote assistant to completely take over the remote machine but at the same time prevents the customer or user from continuing to use the computer. This lack of interactive monitoring can make it difficult for the remote assistant to accurately diagnose the problem the user is experiencing. Also, not only can such software be heavy in terms of space, it typically is heavy in terms of bandwidth. That is, virtualizing the entire desktop by, for example, routing the video and other I/O to the remote location typically consumes significant network bandwidth. All of these limitations are magnified in the situation where a user needs help with something relatively simple like navigating or using a Web site. Thus, heavyweight virtualization of an entire desktop to permit remote viewing of or assistance with, for example, a Web browser or other standalone application is very wasteful of resources and time. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a pictorial diagram showing an illustrative computing environment in which embodiments may be implemented. 
         FIGS. 2 a -2 e    depict a series of events or states within the example computing environment. 
         FIG. 3  depicts a browser interface illustrating use of a hover box user interface control in accordance with one embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  depicts a browser interface illustrating use of a drop-down box user interface control in accordance with one embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  depicts a browser interface illustrating use of a text box and button user interface controls in accordance with one embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Systems and methods in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure are provided that permit remote viewing and/or control of a software component such as a browser, application, or other component, in an unobtrusive and resource efficient manner. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an example computing environment  100  in which various embodiments may be implemented. In one embodiment, the computing environment  100  includes a network  102  that interconnects each network resource. The network  102  may comprise Internet, intranet, and/or other network-connected resources, some or all of which may be suitably configured behind a firewall (not shown) as is known in the art. The network  102  may be a wired and/or wireless network, a cable network, or other type of network. In the illustrated embodiment, the computing environment  100  can also include an application server  105 , a data store  110 , an event queue  115 , a client browser  120  and a remote assistant application  125 . 
     The application server  105  may include any of a number of different conventional server applications running on suitable computing hardware. For example, the application server  105  may be a conventional Web server although that embodiments of the invention may use alternative server implementations and computing hardware including handheld and/or portable computing systems. 
     The example computing environment  100  also includes a data store  110 . As used herein, the term “data store” refers to any device or combination of devices capable of storing, accessing and retrieving data. Such a device or devices may include any combination and number of data servers, databases, data storage devices, file servers, network attached storage (NAS) devices, Web shares and data storage media configured in any standard, distributed or clustered environment. The data store  110  may be configured to allow access via various protocols like, for example, WebDAV. In an embodiment, resources may be stored on the data store  110 , retrieved, updated, deleted or otherwise accessed using a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) as is known in the art. While the data store  110  is depicted in  FIG. 1  as being remote from the application server  105 , those skilled in the art will appreciate that the data store may be local to the application server  105  in other embodiments. 
     The example computing environment  100  also includes an event queue  115 . The term “event queue” as used herein refers to any combination of software and hardware that is capable of accepting (i.e., queueing) event messages or other data, storing such messages, and likewise serving, dequeueing or otherwise providing such messages in response to a request in a first-in first-out (FIFO) or other appropriate manner. In one embodiment, the event queue  115  is a standalone software application suitably configured to accept event messages provided by a network connected resource and likewise dequeue such event messages via the network  102  in the order received. In another embodiment, the event queue  115  may be natively implemented on the data store  110 . For example, the data store  110  may comprise a SQL server and the event queue  115  may be implemented as a stored procedure, a user defined function or using the CREATE QUEUE command of T-SQL. While the event queue  115  is depicted in  FIG. 1  as being remote from the application server  105 , in other embodiments, the event queue  115  may be local to the application server  105  or to the other components depicted in  FIG. 1  and as described below. The event messages may comprise various types of data related to the state of one or more applications as will be discussed more fully below. 
     The example computing environment  100  also includes a client computing device  118  equipped with a client browser  120  or other appropriate interface component or application. The browser  120  may comprise any browser, application, or process capable of executing client-side code provided via a Web page or other appropriate network resource of parseable information. For example, various embodiments may use browsers capable of executing JavaScript and/or other scripting languages. 
     The example computing environment  100  also includes a remote assistant server  122  equipped with a remote assistant application  125 . In an embodiment, the assistant application  125  includes a standalone application running on suitable computing hardware (e.g. the server  122 ) and is capable of rendering a page, or otherwise formatting and presenting information to human readers, such as a Web page in a manner like a Web browser or similar application. In an embodiment, the remote assistant application  125  manages and controls the operation of the event queue  115  and data store  110 . In other embodiments, however, management and control of these components may be exercised by other components (not shown). Other capabilities of an assistant application  125  according to various embodiments are discussed more fully below. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the data store  110  and the event queue  115  together enable remote monitoring of for example, the client browser  120  under circumstances where, for whatever reason, direct communication between an assistant application such as, for example, the remote assistant  125  and the client browser  120  is not possible. For example, suppose the client browser  120  is a Web browser. In such a situation, direct peer-to-peer communication between the client browser  120  and the remote assistant application  125  is not possible because peer-to-peer connections are explicitly prevented in typical Web browser technology. Allowing such connections would create security risks. 
     A user in an environment such as the computing environment  100  can interact with a Web page or application page, for example, through a browser or similar interface application on a client device. In the case of a Web page, for example, the page can be provided to the client computing device  118  by the server  105  and/or the content can be obtained from at least one Web service. Generally, information is sent from the client computing device  118  back to the server  105  indicating that the page has loaded, etc. Since, as was discussed above, direct browser-to-browser connections generally are not allowed, intermediary communication mechanisms may be relied upon. For example, consider a situation where a user of a Web site calls a customer service representative (CSR) to troubleshoot problems that the user is having on a particular page. The CSR may use the remote assistant application  125  running on the remote assistant server  122  to assist the user in the following general manner. 
     The server  105  provides a page that the user may view via the browser  120  of the computing device  118  and can include embedded code, such as JavaScript, that can be executed to send information to intermediary components such as, for example, the event queue  115  and data store  110 . This information may then be pulled by, or pushed to, the remote assistant application  125  running on the remote assistant server  122 . In one embodiment, the embedded code is included in an instance of the page, and the page will include some selectable element such as a button. A user can select the element, which will activate the capturing of information by the embedded code for transmission to the intermediary components. In other embodiments, the CSR might select an option within the remote assistant application  125  that will cause the server  105  to include the embedded code in future pages served to that user. The CSR then instructs the user to refresh their browser, or other application, and although the page may look the same to the user, it will include the embedded code. 
     In one embodiment, the embedded code causes the browser  120  to send a copy of the page to an intermediary component such as, for example, the data store  110 . The remote assistant application  125  running on the remote assistant server  122  may then retrieve the copy of the page from the data store  110  and render a copy on the remote assistant server  122  for viewing by the CSR. Alternatively, where content for the page is provided from a service, the remote assistant application  125  may obtain a copy of the page directly from the service and render it in the same fashion. The rendered copy of the page may then be updated according to events generated by the browser  120  and received by the remote assistant application  125  as is described below. 
     Since a code element such as a JavaScript module is able to capture user-generated and similar events, and send those events to an intermediary component such as, for example, the event queue  115 , the embedded code can be configured to trigger an event each time a user performs an action with respect to the page. For example, if a user selects an item, enters text, or scrolls on the page, events may be generated for any or all of these actions. In some embodiments, each time an event is generated by the embedded code in the page, information for the event can be sent to the event queue  115 . In other embodiments, the page can be configured to capture events and then send events to the event queue  115  in batches at a particular interval, such as, for example, every two seconds. 
     In an embodiment, the remote assistant application  125  is configured to retrieve the events that are stored in the event queue  115 . The remote assistant application  125  may be configured to periodically pull the events from the event queue  115  by means of some type of polling mechanism. Alternatively, the events may be actively pushed to the remote assistant application  125  by the event queue  115 . The CSR&#39;s copy of the page may then be updated by the remote assistant application  125  thereby permitting the CSR to see what the user is doing within the browser  120  and what the user is seeing on his or her screen. The CSR effectively has a duplicate copy of what the user has, without the need for the user to download and install any software, and that duplicate copy rendered on the remote assistant application is updated according to actions that the user is taking within the browser  120 . 
     In some embodiments, the approach can also be bi-directional. This allows the CSR or another appropriate person to effectively manipulate the user&#39;s page without actually “taking control” of the user&#39;s computer. For example, if a user is having trouble entering information, a CSR can ask the user to let the CSR type for a while, and the CSR can use the remote assistant application  125  to type information into the local rendering of the copy of the users page. Just as with the uni-directional case described above, events may be generated as a result of the CSR interacting with (e.g., typing information into) the local rendering. Those events may likewise be captured and sent to, for example, the event queue  115 , or other queue service, and those events can be transmitted to the browser  120  on the client computing device  118  where the embedded code can be further configured to update the user&#39;s page accordingly. 
     A problem still can exist in that the user and the CSR might be looking at different portions of their respective page renderings. An approach in accordance with one embodiment transmits “view” coordinates from the browser  120  to the remote assistant application via the event queue  115 , or other suitable communication means, (and possibly vice-versa) so that the CSR can know what the user sees on the user&#39;s page rendering within the browser  120 . In one embodiment, the CSR&#39;s page rendering within the remote assistant application  125  will show exactly the view that the user sees. In another embodiment, a “window” can be formed over the copy of the page being rendered by the remote assistant application  125 , such as through shading, which allows the CSR to view and/or navigate the entire page, while still knowing exactly which portion the user sees. In one embodiment, the CSR is able to move this window in order to adjust the user&#39;s view. Various other aspects will be described below with respect to other examples. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 2 a -2 e   , an example monitoring method  200  will be described that can be used in the example computing environment  100 , with more specific details of a network-based implementation.  FIGS. 2 a -2 e    depict a series of events or states within the example computing environment  100 . Although the method is described with respect to a Web page in a network-based environment, it should be understood that any appropriate page or other interface element can be rendered remotely or over a network and can take advantage of at least some of the aspects of the present method. The general scenario of a customer service representative (CSR) using embodiments of the invention to assist a user has been outline in detail above. For the sake of brevity, therefore, description of the example monitoring method  200  assumes familiarity with the principles outlined above. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 a   , the browser monitoring method  200  begins with the CSR using the remote assistant application  125  to cause the server  105  to embed executable code in Web pages requested by the user of the client computing device  118 . In an embodiment, the remote assistant application  125  is used to configure the server  105  to look for an identifying cookie in the cookie cache of the client browser  120 . Such a cookie may be used to store suitable identifying information such as, for example, the identity of the user of the client browser  120 . If found, the application server  105  is further configured to add the executable code to any Web pages requested by the client browser  120 . In other embodiments, other types of identifying information may be provided to the server  105  to enable the server to embed the executable code for pages requested by the user. Once the user requests a page from the server  105 , the page including the code is loaded onto the client computing device  118 . In an embodiment, the page will typically render on the client computing device  118  just as if the page does not include such code. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 b   , once the client browser  120  on the client computing device  118  has loaded the page, the executable code is enabled to perform a series of actions. The executable code creates a copy of the model or schema with which it is associated, such as a document object model (DOM), and stores that copy on the data store  110 . A DOM will be used for ease of explanation, but it should be understood that this is merely one example of an object model or schema. The executable code then stores an event message in the event queue  115  with a link or URI to the copy of the DOM stored on the data store  110 . Lastly, the executable code binds event handlers to all user interface modules of the Web page and its associated DOM. The function of these event handlers is discussed in detail below. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 c   , once the executable code running in the browser  120  of the client computing device  118  completes these actions, the remote assistant server  125  running on the remote assistant server  122  performs a series of actions. First, the remote assistant application  125  retrieves the event from the event queue  115  that contains the URI of the DOM. Using this URI, the remote assistant application  125  retrieves the copy of the DOM that was previously stored on the data store  110 . The remote assistant application  125  generally will locate the appropriate DOM copy on the data store  110  using the identifying information previously discussed. Using the retrieved DOM copy, the remote assistant application  125  can then render the Web page as if the page had been served from a Web server. This can be accomplished from within the remote assistant application  125  itself, or alternatively, a suitably programmed remote assistant application may act as a local server to serve the page to an ordinary Web browser on the local computing hardware. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 d   , once the client computing device  118  and remote assistant server  122  each complete their respective series of actions, actual monitoring of the user browser session may commence. The browser  120  and the remote assistant application  125  each enter respective execution loops. The loop running on the browser  120  exists within the executable code that was included with page served by the server  105 , and includes a loop that permits the previously bound event handlers to continuously monitor interactions with browser  120  and create event messages based on such interactions. The event handlers then store the event messages in the event queue  115 . The execution loop running on the remote assistant application  125  is responsible for retrieving and/or receiving the new event messages stored on the event queue  115 . The remote assistant application  125  then uses the retrieved or received event messages to re-render the copy of the DOM that was previously rendered on the remote assistant server  122 . This creation of event messages on the browser  120  and updating of the copy of the page on the remote assistant server  122  are performed more or less concurrently. That is, the client browser  120  creates and queues the event messages according to user interactions and at the same time, the remote assistant application  125  retrieves event messages from the event queue  115  and replays the events locally using the previously rendered copy of the DOM. Replaying of events locally means that the user actions within the browser as reflected in the event messages are simulated visually on the rendering of the copy of the page being displayed on the remote assistant server  122 . In this fashion, all actions that a remote user takes with the user&#39;s browser may be viewed and monitored from a remote location. The event handlers and exemplary event messages are best understood with reference to  FIGS. 3-5 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an example of a page  300  rendering as displayed in the window of the browser  120 . The page  300  includes a department menu  305  on the left side of the page. Included within this menu are various departments such as, for example, the Movies, Music &amp; Games menu item  310 . The department menu  305  may be configured so that when the pointer  302  is moved across the menu, a hover box may appear. The page  300  depicts such a hover box  315  that appears as a result of the pointer  302  hovering over the Movies, Music &amp; Games menu item. With reference to the browser monitoring method  200 , an event handler is bound to the department menu  305  and any such hovering as depicted in  FIG. 3  will result in the event handler creating an event message and putting that message in the event queue  115 . Such an event message may contain many types of information related to the state of the browser  120 . For example, the event message may contain information about the size of the browser window, the location of the browser window, whether the browser window is in focus, the portion of the page visible within the browser window, a screen capture of a pre-selected subset of the browser window, the screen location of a pointer, key presses, button clicks, and use of a rendered control. With respect to the hover box  315 , an event message may indicate that the mouse pointer is hovering over the department menu  310  and, therefore, that the hover box  315  is visible within the rendering of the page  300 . 
     In another embodiment, the remote assistant application  125  may be configured to permit the user of the application to retrieve and display a screenshot of some subset of the display area of the browser  120 . 
     In another embodiment, the remote assistant application  125  may be configured to enable the local user interface modules of the local rendering of the copied DOM. The remote assistant application may then bind event handlers to these user interface modules and event messages may be generated for actions undertaken by the CSR using the remote assistant application  125 . The executable code included in the Web page served to the client browser  120  may likewise be configured to retrieve such event messages and replay the actions of the user of the remote assistant application  125  within the client Web browser  120 . This embodiment permits a fully interactive browser monitoring session whereby the actions undertaken on each of the user interface elements on each rendering is immediately reflected on the other rendering. Although  FIGS. 3-5  are discussed in terms of client Web browser  120  actions being replayed on the remote assistant application  125 , it will be understood that the behavior in this bi-directional embodiment is substantially the same. 
       FIGS. 4 and 5  illustrate other examples of user interface controls. The example Web page  400  includes a drop-down box  405 . After clicking on the drop-down box  405 , a drop-down menu appears. The pointer  302  is shown hovering above the Sporting Goods menu item  410 . Here, the event handler associated with this drop-down box  405  would queue an event message in the event queue  115  when the drop-down box  405  is initially clicked. The remote assistant application  125  then retrieves this event message from the event queue  125  and displays the drop-down menu on the local rendering of the Web page as if the user of the remote assistant application  125  had clicked on the drop-down box themselves. 
       FIG. 5  depicts the use of a text box user interface control. The text box control  505  is illustrated with the phrase “free sms messages” in the control. The event handler bound to this control may queue one or more event messages to the event queue  115  that reflect the key presses necessary to type the phrase into the text box control  505 .  FIG. 5  also depicts a button control  510  shown with the pointer  302  hovering above. When clicked, the event handler for this user interface control will likewise queue an event message in the event queue  115  indicating that the button had been pressed. The event message may also contain information such as the location of the pointer or other information as may be required. 
     As discussed above, the various embodiments can be implemented in a wide variety of operating environments, which in some cases can include one or more user computers, computing devices, or processing devices which can be used to operate any of a number of applications. User or client devices can include any of a number of general purpose personal computers, such as desktop or laptop computers running a standard operating system, as well as cellular, wireless, and handheld devices running mobile software and capable of supporting a number of networking and messaging protocols. Such a system also can include a number of workstations running any of a variety of commercially-available operating systems and other known applications for purposes such as development and database management. These devices also can include other electronic devices, such as dummy terminals, thin-clients, gaming systems, and other devices capable of communicating via a network. 
     Most embodiments utilize at least one network that would be familiar to those skilled in the art for supporting communications using any of a variety of commercially-available protocols, such as TCP/IP, OSI, FTP, UPnP, NFS, CIFS, and AppleTalk. The network can be, for example, a local area network, a wide-area network, a virtual private network, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a public switched telephone network, an infrared network, a wireless network, and any combination thereof. 
     In embodiments utilizing a Web server, the Web server can run any of a variety of server or mid-tier applications, including HTTP servers, FTP servers, CGI servers, data servers, Java servers, and business application servers. The server(s) also may be capable of executing programs or scripts in response requests from user devices, such as by executing one or more Web applications that may be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java®, C, C# or C++, or any scripting language, such as Perl, Python, or TCL, as well as combinations thereof. The server(s) may also include database servers, including without limitation those commercially available from Oracle®, Microsoft®, Sybase®, and IBM®. 
     The environment can include a variety of data stores and other memory and storage media as discussed above. These can reside in a variety of locations, such as on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of the computers are remote from any or all of the computers across the network. In a particular set of embodiments, the information may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art. Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers, servers, or other network devices may be stored locally and/or remotely, as appropriate. Where a system includes computerized devices, each such device can include hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus, the elements including, for example, at least one central processing unit (CPU), at least one input device (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, controller, touch screen, or keypad), and at least one output device (e.g., a display device, printer, or speaker). Such a system may also include one or more storage devices, such as disk drives, optical storage devices, and solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (“RAM”) or read-only memory (“ROM”), as well as removable media devices, memory cards, flash cards, or other non-transitory computer-readable media. 
     Such devices also can include a computer-readable storage media reader, a communications device (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, etc.), and working memory as described above. The computer-readable storage media reader can be connected with, or configured to receive, a computer-readable storage medium, representing remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices as well as storage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing, storing, transmitting, and retrieving computer-readable information. The system and various devices also typically will include a number of software applications, modules, services, or other elements located within at least one working memory device, including an operating system and application programs, such as a client application or Web browser. It should be appreciated that alternate embodiments may have numerous variations from that described above. For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets), or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed. 
     Storage media and computer readable media for containing code, or portions of code, can include any appropriate media known or used in the art, including storage media and communication media, such as but not limited to volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmission of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data, including RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the a system device. Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the various embodiments. 
     The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.