Why can't I call my google voice number from my cell phone to make a call?

I have set up a google voice telephone number that otherwise is working. I have the calls to my google voice number being forwarded to my cell phone. What I cannot do is place a call using google voice. I am trying to call my google voice number from my cell phone expecting google voice to pick up and give my the option of dialing 2 to make a call but when I call the google number, I immediately get a recording saying that the google voice subscriber I'm calling is unavailable and giving me the option of leaving a voice mail. It's driving me nuts because I have to dial phone numbers from my computer in order to get calls to work. I don't have a smart phone so I don't have the option of installing the google voice app. Any ideas of what my setting should be so I don't go directly to voicemail?