How can I add non numeric sms senders to my contacts (for custom alerts) I get on call alerts via text messages from a non-numeric number, is there any way to add this as contact so I can set an individual alert tone for it?

Copying and pasting wont' work due to numeric validation and no direct "add to contacts" option exists in messaging
ADB should accept non-numeric contacts.

Download Terminal Emulator from Play Store, or hook up your phone to a computer with ADB drivers installed and USB debugging turned on.

Then enter:

$ am start -a android.intent.action.INSERT -t vnd.android.cursor.dir/contact -e name 'John Doe' -e phone 956-0987 &lt;-- Replace with non-numeric

And/or:

$ am start -a android.intent.action.ACTION_INSERT -t ContactsContract.Contacts.CONTENT_TYPE -e ContactsContract.Intents.Insert.NAME John ContactsContract.Intents.Insert.PHONE 956-0987 &lt;-- Replace

Both will still open up a "New Contact" window, but the information will be pre-entered.

If your Contacts app will not accept the data, you can actually solve your original problem using Tasker, a phone automation app, and setting up a profile Event -&gt; Phone -&gt; Received Text and playing whatever system ringtone, or personal ones saved in /sdcard/Ringtones by using Action -&gt; Media -&gt; Play Ringtone. Here's a screenshot of Tasker's UI:



Hope this helps!