Phone consulting can be most effective depending on the situation.It's very similar to phoning your local telephone companies support lines for help, except the subject matter is about ebusiness, internet, PC's, style sheets etc etc.

There are usually two types of phone consulting, where someone who is knowledgeable in the area but needs more expertise and direct guidance on a particular subject ( example writing / fixing a style sheet for a website). The person can then carry on and finish their project without having to spend half their day in research or traveling to another location.

Another situation could be when someone wants to re-install Windows on to their PC but does not want to have to take their computer from their office and bring it to the Computer Store.Over the Phone, it can take 1 to 1 and half hours to help them format their disk and restore their computer to good working order .I would recommend that the Person be competent in the basics of computers. I would usually be able to advise after to speaking to someone directly whether they should go and bring the PC back to it's manufacturer or seek independent advice.