I would say there are trade-offs with remote based communications with distinct advantages you don't mention that help make up for the lack of the human factor.

I would say there are trade-offs with remote based communications with distinct advantages you don't mention that help make up for the lack of the human factor. The most obvious is that it eliminates the human factor, which can make it a lot easier to work with people who have unpleasant personalities. It also makes all communications more asynchronous, which means you can discuss things at the pace needed instead of the forced sync of a person staring at you. Then there are all the technical benefits, like cut-n-paste, live URLs, screen sharing, logs of conversations, etc. It also sounds like you haven't experienced a fully remote team working. You don't miss out on the physical presence because it is not there to miss and people make up for that absence in other ways. All the water-cooler/hallway conversations are then there, online, in the chat rooms or what not.