Man you guys are quick to respond - the sign of a great forum! Thank you for your comments. I understand that getting stutter tone on an outside line just won't work, but what about the caller hearing the system dialtone when they pickup, but have the system add the digit "9" to the beginning of any numbers dialed (ie it auto-grabs an outside line, but not until they try to place a call, so they'd actually hear the stutter system dialtone if they had a voicemail up until they dialed a number)? I'd hoped that this could be done with a PRI which is what we have (and the first I've ever played with).
I guess if I can't work it out, I'll have to break down an have them dial "9". See, our residents are not typical assisted living residents; we specialize in much higher care including Alzheimer's and Dementia. While you may ask "why would they need a phone?", many are still high functioning enough to use and want a phone, but perhaps not enough to use it if its any different then the phone they've used all their life (ie no "9"). These are the residents I'm trying to serve here. When I'd put the question to the Tadiran sales guy, I had phrased it together making it clear that I wanted SLTs to perfectly emulate a standard land line, specifically stating that I wanted auto-grabbing and stutter dialtone. Even my tech made the comment that he was surprised the sales guy said it was possible. Clearly the guy misunderstood, and altogether we've been VERY pleased with the IPx (I've purchased 3 more of them for other locations), if I can ONLY get over this issue then I'll have no complaints whatsoever. Also, I am definitely going to look into cortelco, as I've had miserable luck finding a phone I could just issue them that would have an MWI.
