Can A Phone Number be inactive and still ring?

I used to work for Hollywood Video and as some of you may know, Hollywood Video has gone out of business. When filling out resumes I put the phone number for the location I worked at and I figured if anything they would call and get a "we're sorry the phone number you're trying to reach is no longer valid...." message that comes with inactive phone lines, but out of curiousity I dialed it and got a ring with no answer or option for voicemail. I decided to try again to let the person know who now has this number they may receive some calls by employers trying to verify my previous work status, I've called a few times and it always has several rings and no option for voicemail. Is it possibly that this is an inactive number but still continues to ring or does it belong to some other person or business now that does not provide a voicemail?