phone interviews are used

The reason for the popularity of the phone interview is different. Its
strength lies is in the way it has complemented the existing
resume-interview process. As a rule, if the applicant pool is widely
dispersed, or limited in size, recruiters use the phone interview to
avoid unnecessary travel, by sandwiching it as an elimination round
between resume selection and the regular interview.

~ Sectors such as IT, telecom and banking use this tool frequently.

~ Foreign firms recruiting for onsite projects or those with a
miniscule Indian presence also favour this approach. Foreign firms
recruit through trusted placement consultants who do the physical
verification of documents and provide on-ground facilities for phone
interviews.

~ An additional advantage of the phone interview is its enormous
flexibility. It lends itself to unique situations such as mid-level
managers interviewing in strict confidentiality without meeting the
recruiting firm (through a conference call via the placement agent),
interviewers doing a regular interview with the applicant and their
boss joining in on speaker phone from another city, etc.

Despite the dramatic rise in the use of phone interviews, there is
little available by way of literature and training exercises on how to
prepare for one.

So, while trainers think of ways to help you prepare and recruiters
make plans to test you further, here are a few things you should
remember before any phone interview.

Article Source :http://www.rediff.com/getahead/2006/jan/23phone.htm