It would be nice if you could send messages to your companions/fellow lords to do things. It could cost a nominal fee to do, require you to be in a town, etc. It's very tedious to have to travel halfway across the map to pick up Alek because he got captured for the 10th time this month and decided to rest in a random city. You should be able to send him a message to come join you. Similarly when you're in trouble you could summon help.