My problem with "everyone remote" is the following scenario. Suppose I'm sitting at my desk, and I need Bob's approval to check in some piece of code. In the c

My problem with "everyone remote" is the following scenario. Suppose I'm sitting at my desk, and I need Bob's approval to check in some piece of code. In the current (office) scenario, I send Bob the request. If I see him lounging back in his chair, playing some game on his phone, I can walk over to him and gently prod him to approve my request. He can't deny his game-playing, so he has no option but to act right away. In the remote world, I have no idea what's keeping Bob busy and why he's not approving my request. He could be playing games or out for a walk with his dog... or he could be fighting a (metaphorical) fire. What we need is some sort of a "presence" signal. Unfortunately, we can't have one without some privacy issues.