Systems and methods are disclosed for starting both a synchronous communication session and an asynchronous communication session that overlap in time, and sending a digital link to users associated with the synchronous communication session that allows them to access the asynchronous communication session. The synchronous communication session includes real-time multimedia data transfer among the users associated with the session. The asynchronous communication session includes allowing users to add information to or retrieve information from the session. The asynchronous communication session persists after the synchronous communication session ends.