EDITOR'S POST
What about phone interviews?
Q. What about phone interviews?
A. It's becoming more common to interview candidates over the phone. Both technical and general h.r. interviews are conducted this way.
Screening candidates by phone is highly efficient, and costs less than bringing a candidate over in person. Technical interviews over Internet Relay Chat (IRC) are becoming more common too. Also some companies require the candidate to write down all the answers in the technical part of an in-person interview.
Usuallly, someone calls in advance to tell you to expect a phone call around a certain time. If you get a surprise call while you are not prepared or are in the middle of something else, you should ask to be called back at a mutually agreeable time - or offer to call back later.