tagej - You select the binoc's, right click to view, and left click to call in for artilery. If the artilery is not in a position to be effective, it won't do anything. Good examples of effective ones are someone spotting the north or south base, with someone manning the defgun overlooking the bay at the airfield.
The person in the artilery then sees a flashing icon above the damage status for the gun (lower left corner, near your health). They will also see a flashing yellow cone in the radar with the point being where the person called for the strikes. At this point they right click to scope in. Aiming can be a bit tricky but you get a better viewpoint for seeing where the rounds go.
And yes, this can be extremely effective.