Name changes are pretty much the same no matter whether you are changing a couple of letters or the whole thing. It's pretty straight forward as long as you don't have criminal charges pending or court cases or other debt actions going on against you. It will need to be published in the paper (classified section where legal notices are published), but that rarely elicits a protest.
It's doubtful that the court has telephonic hearings for name changes. Why don't you want to appear for your hearing? You may be able to have an attorney appear for you. You fill out the form and petition yourself, but you need one other person to attest to the statements as being correct and both of you must sign in front of a notary. Again you can get all that done at once with a lawyer.
You must file in the state and county that you are currently residing (and in OK have resided for 30 days).
Here's the process in pictures. http://www.wikihow.com/Change-Your-Name-in-Oklahoma
The forms (with instructions) are here: http://oklaw.org/files/CB59BD67-E9D4...%2011.2011.pdf
There's no such thing as a common law name change. Absent a court document (either a marriage or name change order), most will not change your identification.
Be sure to get several "true copies" at the court house when your petition is approved. You'll need to show them or send them to people to get things changed. Some may need to retain it for their records.

