"PaulD" wrote in message
Are there any other relatively simple things that I can check? What
would should I do next?

Step one is to determine if it is the phone company or your house. To do
this, go outside and find the box where the lines come in. Inside is a
connector from the house to the phone company. Disconnect the house, plug
in a phone to the interface, see if you have a dial tone. If yes, it is
your problem and expect to pay for the service call.

You did the right thing taking all the phones off the line so th at should
eliminate the problem if it is one of your devices. Have you done any work
in the fast few months? I lost my phones after an unused line was cut, but
the corrosion did not short it out until months later.