Others have complained about this problem and Microsoft has been startlingly unprofessional by not responding to the complaints.

I'm running Skypeforlinux version 8.17.0.2 under Ubuntu 16.04. Whenever I make a skype-call to a landline phone, the incoming audio becomes garbled after about 5 minutes.

The Sound Settings showed that there were two instances running of the "ALSA plugin for skypeforlinux". The mute box of one of them worked, while the other was ineffective. Why two?

Curiously, the bottom edge of the settings window was unsteady, flickering at a rate of about 2-3X/sec.

Any ideas? Thanks...