A lot of times face to face interaction really trumps anything over the phone. Just being able to catch someone quickly for a discussion is one of the main pain

A lot of times face to face interaction really trumps anything over the phone. Just being able to catch someone quickly for a discussion is one of the main pain points of "remote work" where you may be on a "send chat message -> wait -> wait some more -> ok I'm going to get coffee -> rats, I missed her/him -> ..." cycle. I think a permanent telepresence can avoid some of these issues. But it brings to fore some privacy issues where people at work have a video feed into your home (its office space - but its your home nonetheless).