[zapzupnz]

> Phone calls are abused to no end

So are emails, but we don't say people have stopped using emails for certain types of communication.

> [...] I see more and more people just filtering all non VIP calls and checking every now and then voice mail or messages. I'm not sure people heavily relying on phone are still "normal" people.

Then I really think you need to look outside your usual circles, especially if there's a lot of technologically-inclined involved, because I'm not sure "normal" people even know what VIP numbers are, let alone know to filter them, nor that filtering is even possible.