How important is telephone support?
 

I'm trying to find a web host that I'll be able to remain with for a number of years. In my search, I've placed quite a lot of importance on the availability of telephone support.

I nearly signed up with Hostgator, which does offer telephone support, but have pretty much decided against, because they only do weekly back-ups and because they limit you to 25 simultaneous MySQL connections.

I'm looking very seriously now at DownTownHost. They permit up to 50 simultaneous MySQL connections and do nightly back-ups. However, they do not offer telephone support. Support is solely through the Helpdesk ticket system (and possibly through Live Chat - not sure about that).

I'm new to almost everything -- MySQL, phpMyAdmin, vBulletin, the whole lot, and am often very confused. How important do you think telephone support is?

Given the other things that DTH offers, will I be okay with them even without phone support?