Skype became really really terrible, it looks like it's been unmaintained during the past 10 years, I'd rate its usability worse than most open-source software. The sound quality is also awful, it feels like I'm calling a landline.
I live in France, landline had a distinct background white noise to it that somehow Skype managed to imitate. Switching to any other software feels like you're upgrading to HD audio.
It’s called “comfort noise,” and was an option in Lync/Skype for Business. A lot of users being switched from desk phones, especially older ones who still primarily used landlines at home, found themselves wondering if their conversation partner was still on the line without it.
In the US I don't know a single person that has access to POTS. Discord (with paid nitro) is the gold standard for quality and latency, followed by all the free VoIP apps
I live in the US, and I'm pretty sure everyone I know has a landline, though a good number of them are now digital/fiber/whatever. Some people I know still have multiple landlines, as it's cheaper than paying multiple cell bills if necessary. I know at least one person who used to have call forwarding set up to get calls on their cellphone, but with the current state of marketing calls they probably don't do that anymore.
Nobody pays multiple cell bills unless they wanna use several data-only eSIMs from different carriers to get better speed/coverage. If you just want a lot of phone numbers, you can port your numbers to a VoIP provider and forward them. Way cheaper than a landline
> I have tried most of them: Google Meet, Teams, Slack, Discord, Skype, Jitsi and so far I liked Jitsi the most and Skype the least.