I don't advocate talking to every candidate but I don't think it's possible to estimate someone's skill without talking to them (even email is a form of conversation).

I find much better filters for that sort of thing are ability to follow directions and attention to detail. If you have hundreds of applications, I guarantee they're not all great spellers or communicate effectively. I value the soft skills way above programming ability (since we have to communicate effectively every day) in the early stage.

I find that it's pretty easy to demonstrate that you "have it" from portfolio, resume, cover letter and the application process.

Personally it's a huge pet peeve of mine in an interview process whenever I have to write code and there isn't some discussion about that code - to the point that I feel it a waste of my time and a strong signal not to work there.