Watch Website Visitors in Real Time — Live Session Viewing Explained
Live session viewing lets you watch visitors on your website as it happens. Learn how it works, practical use cases for sales, support, and launches, and how to use it responsibly.
Session replay shows you what visitors did. Live session viewing shows you what they're doing right now. It sounds like a novelty, but it's genuinely useful in a handful of situations—launches, high-value sales visits, and proactive support.
Table of Contents
- How Live Viewing Works
- When Live Viewing Is Useful
- When Recorded Replay Is Better
- How to Use It in DeepSync
- Using It Responsibly
- Key Takeaways
How Live Viewing Works
The tracking script captures page changes and interactions as they happen. Instead of waiting for the session to end, events stream to the dashboard in real time. In DeepSync, live sessions stream over server-sent events rather than polling, so playback trails the visitor's browser by only a beat or two.
When Live Viewing Is Useful
| Situation | Why live helps |
|---|---|
| Product launch or campaign go-live | Spot broken flows within minutes, not days |
| High-value B2B visitor on pricing | Sales knows what they're evaluating |
| User struggling with onboarding | Reach out before they give up |
| Support chat in progress | See what the customer sees while you reply |
| Deploy verification | Confirm real users complete key flows after a release |
When Recorded Replay Is Better
Most analysis doesn't need live viewing. Recorded replay lets you filter, speed up, skip inactivity, and get AI summaries. Use live viewing for time-sensitive moments; use recorded replay for understanding patterns.
How to Use It in DeepSync
- Open Sessions and filter to Live.
- Open any live session to watch it stream.
- Combine with filters (page, country, device, source) to find the visitors that matter.
Live session view is available on Pro and above. Details: Live session viewing docs.
Launch-day ritual
For the first hour after a launch, keep the Live filter open on your signup or checkout page. Watching five real users complete (or fail) the flow catches issues faster than any alert.
On Enterprise, the AI chat widget ties conversations to the visitor's live session—see AI chatbot with live session context.
Using It Responsibly
- Mask sensitive data. Inputs, passwords, and payment fields are masked by default; mask other sensitive elements with a class.
- Respect consent. Use consent-required mode where required by law.
- Disclose recording in your privacy policy.
- Limit access to team members who need it.
- Use it to help, not to surveil individuals.
Key Takeaways
- Live viewing is best for launches, high-value visits, and proactive support.
- Recorded replay is better for pattern analysis.
- Mask data, respect consent, and disclose recording.
Conclusion
Most of the time, recorded replay is what you need. For the moments that matter right now, live viewing lets you act while the visitor is still there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related articles
Stay in the loop
Get the latest insights on product analytics and user behavior delivered to your inbox.
