When calling our home phone, there is an automatic message and the home phone never even rings.
@CyndyB -- do you have more than one telephone handset, or just one, where you have turned the ringer-volume down to "zero" ?
Use a mobile-phone to call your home-number, and wait for the 3rd ring sound (coming out of that mobile phone). Then, pick up your handset, to see if you can listen/talk to that mobile-phone.