Avaya IP DECT phone does not have dial tone

I have a user that used to have a 4610 sw ip phone but then left the company for a few months, where I gave her phone, but not her extension to a new user. She has returned so I had a spare 3711 IP DECT phone to give her. After adding the phone to her extension through the subscription utility in the Mobility Manager, the phone sucessfully subscribes. The problem is that I can't make a call and I can't get a dial tone at all. When pressing the button to make a call the phone flashes a message that says "Please wait" and then makes two tones like it hung up with out even giving a dial tone. I have tried deleting settings and re-subscribing the phone, nothing seems to work. The only thing I have not done is delete and readd the user in the Avaya manager, which I would rather not do. I have been able to move users from different phones before with success, but I don't think I've done from a desk phone to a cordless handset, is ther anything different? is there a setting I've forgotten about? please help experts!