If he is a coder, how is it harder to judge the "talented" aspect of the equation?

People/soft skills are very important, but what % are they relative to coding quality/output/volume?

I've telecommuted for almost a year before, working for a startup.

Communication can be a pain and you have to be really careful about wording, etc. when you're using email / IM / etc. Without vocal inflection it's easy to mistake joking / sarcasm / bluntness as instead someone just being a total dick.