There are Paul's essays and there is real life. In real life, if I have a critical bug that falls into remote dev's domain, he'd better be damn sure to take hi

There are Paul's essays and there is real life. In real life, if I have a critical bug that falls into remote dev's domain, he'd better be damn sure to take his headphones off and get back pronto. Because that's exactly what would've happened if he were sitting across the room. Nobody expects a telecommuter to answer right away, but quickly acknowledging a question is a rudimentary communication requirement that goes a long way in building functional team. The "I will get back to you within 24 hours" provision from the linked article is as laughable as it is absolutely ridiculous.