Do we still need 3rd Party aps for phone calls?

Question

Currently have 2 Skype numbers subscriptions and have always used SkypeMate as my 3rd party ap for connections, which works perfectly. Yesterday, I forgot to open SkypeMate after initializing Skype, but all my Skype calls, including one from USA to NZ, still went through without SkypeMate. This morning, to test it again, I called from my mobile to my Skype number and lo and behold, all calls went through without turning SkypeMate on. Granted, I don't get a dialtone when calling without SkypeMate enabled, but once the number connects, the phone rings as usual and the calls connect flawlessly. So, the bottom line question is: do we need 3rd Party aps when using Skype as a regular telephone? Or has it always been this way and I just discovered it by accident?   

Answer 1

It's always been like that.  Without Skypemate the phone turns into simply a USB mic/speaker.  You will be able to receive phone calls, and answer them manually on the computer you just won't be able to dial out using your phone's keypad.   When older versions of Skypemate become incompatible the first thing to go is the keypad capability.  Semi functioning versions of Skypemate can still give you the ability to answer phone calls by lifting the receiver or its equivalent.  So if you don't require the ability to use the keypad on the phone to dial out then you can simply continue to use the device without Skypemate.  I'd be surprised if answering the phone on the keypad actually worked, as I know that functionality does not work with my device without Skypemate and and older version of Skype (6.21).