Since Nextel sold you the phone and net alerts is a service that they offer, maybe you can talk to them. Seems like if they're going to offer a service, then they should be able to support the service on all of their handsets. If they don't support it, then maybe they will let you swap phones to one that will, especially since having the ability to receive net alerts directly impacts your job.
If you do call them, see what you can do to get your call escalated to the smart phone people. I suspect that the answers you get there will be of more use to you than questions answered by a general, first-line csr rep.
Have you been a Nextel customer long? If you've been there for several years, and if you don't get any help from the folks in the smart phone area, and if they won't let you swap phones, then you might ask to talk to retentions (or whatever nextel/sprint calls it). Those folks have more leeway to work with the customer, since it's their job to make sure that customers don't jump ship and go with another carrier.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Remember the old saying, "You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Those folks are much, much more likely to help you if you're nice to them than they are if you're ugly to them, as are most folks in service positions. It may be that, after talking to all these folks, the answer is still no, but regardless, if you're nice and polite about it, it won't be nearly as unpleasant for either party as it would be if you get mad.
Hope some of this helps,
dow
