What's your opinion of telephone interviews?

[mrmpa]

I have had them last from 10 minutes to 1 hour. The 1 hour one led to a 2 hour one on one interview, with no job offer, and I had to contact them 1 day after they said they would make an offer. One last week was 10 minutes, ending with an email yesterday, saying "we're not going to hire you."

I have had them for 15 minutes and a half hour-no job offers. I really don't like them, especially when the interviewer appears to not know how to communicate on the phone.

I know that there are hundreds of applicants, but there has to be a better way than a phone interview.