How to Send a Free Text Message to a Nextel Phone

Text Via Email
1. Launch the email client you regularly use. If you use web-based email in place of an email client, log in to the website that hosts your email account.
2. Click on the 'Compose' or 'New' buttons in your email client to begin writing a new email message.
3. Enter the email address of the Nextel user you need to contact in the 'To' field of your new mail message. All Nextel email addresses are in the following format: tendigitnumber@messaging.nextel.com, meaning that you would enter 3135551212@messaging.nextel.com if you wanted to send a text to (313) 555-1212.
4. Compose your message. Remember that text messages are limited to 160 characters, and that any characters in excess of 160 may be omitted or divided into multiple messages.
5. Click the 'Send' button in your email client. While cell phones do not directly receive emails as text messages, the Nextel system forwards your message to the Nextel user as a text.
Text Via AOL Instant Messenger
6. Launch AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). Log in using your AOL screen name and password, and click the 'Sign In' button in AIM.
7. Start a new instant message. Click the 'People' menu on the top of your 'Buddy List' window and select 'Send Instant Message.'
8. In the 'To' field within AIM, enter the 10-digit mobile number of the Nextel user you want to text, preceded by the country code, which is +1 for the United States. For example, if you wanted to text message (212) 555-1234, type the following in the 'To' field: +12125551234.
9. Compose the text message in the body of the AIM window, just as you would if sending it to an AIM user.
10. Click the 'Send' button in the lower-right hand corner of the screen to send the message to a Nextel phone.