Patent ID: 8738703

Claim:
A method of providing online collaborative support to a customer node over a computer network, the method comprising: establishing an online support session facilitating, at least in part, bi-directional communication of support session information between a customer node and a first support node, the support session information being related to resolution of an issue relating to a computer or computer program that is faced by the customer node; connecting, in response to a lack of resolution of the issue, a third node to the online support session, the connection being made without notice thereof being provided to the customer node; communicating bi-directionally between the first support node and the third node in a collaborative effort to resolve the issue faced by the customer node; transmitting additional support session information from the third node to an intermediate node different from the customer node, the first support node, and the third node; reconfiguring, at the intermediate node, the additional support information in such a fashion that the reconfigured additional support session information appears to the customer node to have been transmitted from the first support node; and transmitting the reconfigured additional support information from the intermediate node to the customer node, wherein the intermediate node is connected with the first support node and the third node via a first network, and wherein the intermediate node is connected with the customer node via a second network different from the first network.