I know its an odd question, but is there any way to disable visual voicemail and have the iPhone dial your voicemail number like it does right after you restore (without restoring of course...).. And does the iPhone have any alternate notification system to alert you of new messages with VVM off?

NVM, figured it out.. just need to remove vvm from the account and add std voicemail.. and yes, the iPhone has a voicemail indicator. the number badge is accurate even without vvm!

open your carrier.plist

Add the String:
<key>ShouldHideAllVoicemailUI</key>
<true/>

There must be on or off settings option. Please look for it. I do not know whether there is any alternative notification system.