I've noticed that with my skype-to-the-office setup where I leave it on, the resource use (mostly bandwidth) bugs me in the back of my mind.

That makes the experience a little uncomfortable as an always-on thing.

I'd definitely like to know that resource use was minimal when I wasn't in a conversation or actively engaged with the system.

I think that having the system as an appliance is a plus and makes it more comfortable to just leave on - versus something running in a window on a screen from my work laptop.