Overview
Increasingly, enterprises prefer to deploy business applications that are browser-based. The delivery of new features, enhancements, and software fixes is much simpler for browser-based apps. Further, most modern enterprise cloud, SaaS applications are browser-based. More than ever, it is preferred (if not expected) to carry out day-to-day business activity within the browser.
We provide to all CareAR licensed users the ability to host a CareAR Assist session on a desktop browser. The web host app supports most of the capabilities of today’s native application that relate to starting, managing, and ending an Assist session, done from within a desktop or laptop-based web browser.
Supported Browsers
The CareAR for Browser app is supported on the following browsers:
- Chrome (Windows, macOS)
- Safari (macOS)
- Edge (Windows, macOS)
- Brave (Windows, macOS)
Note that there is a technical limitation within Safari the prevents the selection of different speaker device options; whatever is the default speaker option will be used.
Scope and Limitations
This feature enables a user to host an Assist session in their browser so they can
- Start an Assist session (solo mode or with an invited guest)
- Manage audio and video
- Invite additional guests
- Annotate on the video feed presented in the session (if and only if the streaming participant is doing so with a native CareAR Assist app)
- End the session
Unlike similar products in the market, CareAR does not require the user to download or run any sort of plug-ins, helper apps, add-ons, extensions, etc in or alongside the browser.
Support on mobile browsers is not supported due to fundamental technical limitations of WebRTC (the underlying communications and collaboration technology) on mobile hardware platforms.
The browser app is not a full like-for-like replacement of the CareAR native app.
The following Assist functionality provided in the native desktop app is not supported in the browser app:
- Contacts
- Favourites
- Recents or History
- Surveys for Host user
- Recording
- Screenshare
- Share Image
Also, please note that CareAR Instruct capabilities are not included in this implementation.
Features and Capabilities
Accessing the App
To access the Web Host browser app, users may log into the CareAR Portal. There, they will find a “Launch Assist button to the within the lefthand menu strip.
When clicked, the pre-session sequence will begin. We have optimized the pre-session sequence popup modal as follows:
- If there is no properly formatted email address or phone number entered in the participant input box, we default a popup modal to let the user start a solo session. The label on the start button reflects starting a solo session.
- If there is a properly formatted email address or phone number entered in the participant input box, we prepare the user to send out an invitation. The label on the start button reflects sending the session invitation.
Inviting Multiple Guests
We support multi-party sessions. This feature allows the host to invite additional guests to collaborate in a remote solve session. After establishing the session, the host can add Additional users by tapping/clicking the Add Participant icon in the lower left screen (). From there, the host can either invite via SMS or email or use the 6 (or 8) digit character session code found in the bottom right corner of the screen, by inputting that code into the prescribed area.
Alternatively, a link to your session can be copied to your clipboard. Anyone provided with the link will be able to join your CareAR session.
Participant controls are provided to the host to manage the session and to assign collaboration roles using the pencil icon () Viewer roles do not have the ability to share their screens.
Responding to an Invitation
When someone receives an invitation to a session via SMS, email, or as seen below, via another means, there will be a link presented in the invitation. The invited party is met with a landing page, provided that the options are enabled within the admin tenant options the invited party may choose between join via app, join via browser, or join via Smart Glasses.
If the guest does not have the CareAR Assist app installed, upon pressing join by app, the guest’s default browser will redirect them to the appropriate app store or web page to download the app.
If the guest does have the CareAR Assist app installed, then the app is launched. If the guest has a named user account in the tenant (that is, the guest is a registered user), then the app automatically uses the user’s name to join the session. If the guest does not have a named user account, then the guest will be prompted to enter their name before joining the session.
Selecting join by browser will redirect the invited party to a browser based session with limited functionality. Similarly, join via Glass will do the same.
Upon successful joining of a session, the app notifies all other users already in the session that the guest has joined. Note that the participant icon (lower left) indicates a badge counter of all participants currently in the session.
Session Management
Hosts can manage Assist sessions in the CareAR for Browser app in the same way that they do today using the native desktop app. Users are only permitted to host a single active Assist session inside a given browser app. For example, we prevent a user from hosting more than one Assist session inside the Google Chrome browser.
Audio Device Management
- Selecting the ellipses found in the bottom of the Desktop Session will open the Audio Device Management Menu.
- From this menu, the user may choose which audio device (microphone or speaker) to use during the CareAR Session.
Mute Microphone
Microphone Mute Off: In this state, the microphone is active, and the audio path is transmitted into the active session.
Microphone Mute On: In this state, the microphone is disabled and there is no audio path transmitted into the active session. This is the default setting when joining a session.
Disconnect Session
Tapping or clicking the disconnect icon will disconnect the user from a Remote Session with another user. If the user was in a standalone session, this action ends the session.
Annotation Tools
While a Guest is streaming video, the Annotation tools menu will be available at the top of the window. Users may select the tools dropdown to view tools available to them, or select the colour dropdown to view the colours available to be used for anchored annotations. Available tools are as follows:
Arrows
- This annotation allows the user to anchor an arrow on the frozen view or on any real-world 3D object.
Highlight
- Selecting the Highlight icon allows the user to anchor a pulsating sphere on the frozen view or on any real-world 3D object.
Undo
- Selecting the Undo icon undoes the last annotation action that was done with drawing, arrow, highlight or text box annotation tools. Each successive tap/click of the Undo icon undoes the previous action.
Laser Pointer
- A long press will display a red dot on the screen wherever the cursor is located. This displays a laser pointer like behaviour for a see what I see experience shared through the live stream.
Drawing
- This annotation allows the user to create and anchor a free styled drawing on the frozen view or on any real-world 3D object.
Text Box
- Selecting the Text Box icon allows the user to anchor a text box on the frozen view or on any real-world 3D object with customized text inside the text box.
Snapshot
- Selecting the Snapshot icon takes a snapshot of the current view including all the annotations and saves it to the following places:
- The device’s default downloads folder;
- CareAR portal under that specific session record;
Freeze Mode
- Selecting the Freeze Mode icon can be done by any user in the session. It freezes the camera view and shows this view to all participants in the session.
- Annotations done during the live view are retained as part of the screen freeze and
- Annotations can be done by either of the users on top of the frozen view
- Annotations made in the frozen view persist when transitioning back to live view.
- Clicking the “Live” button exits the “Freeze mode” and takes both the user back to live view
Effective date: 02/03/2025
CareAR Assist Version 24.04.002