It is! A while back, I was talking to a former colleague and pair-programming partner, and he was singing the praises of using desktop sharing software for pairing, even if when in the same room. It reduced the "driver/passenger" effect and made pairing more effective.
Strangely this is not the first time I've heard folks sing the praises of using collaboration tools, even when in the same room. Maybe because headsets and cameras keep you 'in contact' in a way that seems personal, but tones it down below the level of the shared documents. So the work 'volume' is higher than the personalitys'.
