My landline & portable phones are dead

Cordless phones (not cellular) all go dead if there is no signal coming into the base station. If you have a corded phone, plug it into the terminal box that comes into the house. If you don't get a dial tone, it's a problem with your carrier and you need to call them. If you do get a dialtone, then the problem is somewhere in the wiring within your house. If you are paying a wire charge, then the need to come and fix it. If not, you may have to pay for repair.

Unplug everything, anything shorted will make your line ring busy, if the line is cut, not shourted, it will ring and ring.
Like the above post, unplug jack outside and plug phone into box to confirm Telco Problem.
If you call your house, does it ring busy, or Rings and Rings?