I'm curious whether you find hipchat / slack to actually be less intrusive. In my experience, working from home can result in protracted text conversations causing me to stay less focused for longer periods of time. In the office, I can usually stop, take off the headphones, resolve their problem, refill my coffee and then get back to work in less time.
On a prior role when we had discussions exceed the HipChat/Slack medium we did a quick google hangout/skype session. Doing face to face, and with a screen share. I can't really think of a time where we didn't get something resolved in under an hour, more likely I would say under 30 minutes.
Face to face can resolve slightly quicker, but with the amount of interruptions it provides. I'll take the bit of extra time resolving something via HipChat/Slack -> Video conference for more uninterrupted work time.
There are pros and cons to remote. It depends on your team and their culture. Some teams need a whiteboard and planning sessions. Others can just do a screen share and work on a flow chart together. If your team and culture is capable of remote it's a really nice perk for employees.
The other thing I hear about is lack of social contact working remote. This was an issue for me before I developed some outside hobbies. But the remote work spawned the hobbies, because I had more time. Where as working on site I don't have any time for hobbies due to travel and preparation for the day. I really haven't maintained ties with my prior co workers. The one I still do meet frequently we worked together on a primarily remote job, 3 days a week. So you can still maintain good social contact over the days.
The only real reason I see for not remote is management and culture issues. If your superiors can derive your progress from a dash board, commits, tickets, etc. Then it's feasible. Where as if the only way to determine progress is one one one meetings with a white board, then remote won't work. This also speaks to the trust of the employees.
I also find I get so much more done at home. This goes back to the culture. In person offices are from what I've seen largely instant gratification. I.E. coming over knocking on your desk asking a question, or pulling you in for a meeting. This provides so many distractions pulling you away from work. Remote would be an email or chat message. If it was extremely urgent a phone call. It was almost asynchronous. As we were planning out software we would just amend design notes and update the flow diagram in jira.
Lastly is the peace of mind of comfort. One of the common things I did when working remote was sitting in a gazebo at my nearby park. I tethered off my phone for the day, and just listened to nature. Being camped up in an office staring at walls all day is not ideal. Getting out being able to walk around and clear your head can make the day so much easier.
I really want to get back to fully remote.