I always heard not to be on landline phone during the lightning storm. Since surges can come through the phone line. But has anyone ever heard telephone ringing during lightning storms? I heard that the older telephones can do this if a surge comes down the line. The voltage on a phone line is about 5VDC but during ringing it is 90V so a lightning hitting the line can cause a surge to ring the phone.

I don't know if this can happen over an electronic or cordless phone though.

The normal bias voltage on landline phones is something between 24 and 60VDC, usually the same value of AC (25 or 30Hz) superimposed on it when ringing.
The lighting can not cause classic ringing, but it can cause dings. Mainly when wiring goes above ground, it forms rather long antenna, capable to pick up a lot of things.
The voltage had to be limited by surge arresters to some kV peak (well below what the insulation should be able to handle), but often these protectors became faulty without anyone noticing. Then the surge could remain unclamped and so break down the case insulation and so form safety hazard. Therefore the recommendation to not use it at storms...

Unless the storm damages the lines or equipment, landline phones continue to function normally during a storm.  It's a generally considered not a good idea to use a landline phone during a thunderstorm, especially with a corded handset, but there's nothing to stop you from doing so.