Ideally, a phone call should only be used for quick exchanges of information.
"Hey, it's me. I'll be at the place in this amount of time."
"Okay. Don't forget to bring the thing."
"I won't. Later."
That type of shit. Then, when you get to the thing, make all the small talk you want. A boring conversation in person is still annoying, but if it must be had, it's better than over the phone.
I'm even okay with small talk over text, because you can look at it, go back to doing whatever it is you're doing, and respond to it when you're good and ready. And if the other person gets pissed at you because you din't respond to their text in the time they wanted, just cover your ass by saying, "Well, we should just hang out more so we can talk." Which, obviously, makes you sound like a suave mofo.