ITP VoIP Review

Pricing

ITP offers some of the most affordable VoIP plans both for residential and business usage. What differentiates their business pricing from other business VoIP plans is their 'Metered Plus' plan which works like a traditional phone line because users are charged a flat rate per minute instead of receiving a minute allotment. ITP's pricing options are as follows:

Another pricing plan that is unique to ITP Business Class is the choice of a VoIP global package which offers a defined minute allotment to 60 countries worldwide.

ITP also offers a plethora of add-ons that can be purchased for an additional fee. These features can be added to both business plans and residential plans:

Features

The features that ITP offers with its VoIP plans are helpful, though unremarkable. The company's standout feature is 60 free international minutes of call time which are given as a signup bonus. However, this gift may not be helpful for users without contacts overseas. We were also intrigued by the ability to schedule a 'wake up call' which, while not critical for most users, is a service not offered by most other VoIP providers. On the whole, ITP's features are more than sufficient for personal and home office use.

ITP's features include:

• Voicemail
• Voicemail to email
• Outbound call blocking
• Call forwarding
• Call recording
• Free calls to other ITP subscribers
• Caller ID block
• Call waiting
• Do not disturb/white list
• Call forwarding
• 3 way calling
• Online account management
• Click 2 call
• Call forwarding
• VIP ring
• Follow me
• *69

Sound Quality

We tested ITP's call quality by placing calls to landlines, cell phones and other VoIP phones, and by receiving calls from different sources. In our extensive testing, we found the call quality to be excellent during calls to and from landlines, with no feedback, echo or fading out during the calls. Calls to cell phones were slightly less successful, but were still surprisingly clear. When speaking with people that were using other VoIP lines themselves, the quality often compared to that of landlines.

Customer Support

Although ITP offers several types of customer support, we were most impressed by the company's quick email response. Our email to ITP was returned in approximately 30 minutes, and the response was entirely straightforward. We were equally impressed with the fact that ITP included our original question at the bottom of the reply, which put their customer service email in context.

Email from ITP

Calls to ITP's phone support center were answered in an average of 3.5 minutes, which seems long as compared to other VoIP providers, but isn't a specifically painful hold time. Overall, we found that ITP's phone representatives were knowledgeable and helpful. We noted that the representatives were extremely comfortable answering all of the questions that we presented, and that their responses were accurate at all times.

Users who wish to search for answers to their questions online can use ITP's FAQ page which is sparse as compared with the Knowledgebases of other VoIP providers, but the questions that are answered are answered with precision. Specifically helpful was the image at the top of the page which provided a useful visual for those seeking help with the technical setup.

Ease of Use

ITP's website is quite simple as compared with those of other VoIP services, so the registration process was effortless. ITP gets kudos for being one of the only top VoIP providers that provided a welcome letter with instructions in the package with the VoIP hardware. Noticeably absent in both the welcome email and the printed note, however, was the username that we chose. Although the password was provided with the hardware, we were left struggling to remember the username we'd chosen for this new product.

The hardware provided by ITP is a Linksys box similar to those provided by other residential VoIP companies such as Phone.com and ViaTalk. Consequently, ITP's setup was on par with its competitors, and required no more than plugging in the power cord, connecting the phone and wiring the Linksys box to the existing router.

The company's control panel made it easy to find where to update our preferences, though we were surprised to see that changing most of the settings wasn't quite as intuitive. For example, users cannot record their own greetings from the control panel. A call to customer service confirmed that in order to record your own greeting, you must dial 123# from your ITP phone, and insert the password 1234. Once we followed these instructions, the mailbox personalization process was incredibly easy. An automated service prompted us about exactly how to proceed, and confirmed our changes each step of the way.

ITP's Control Panel

Although ITP's control panel wasn't as elaborate as other VoIP control panels, we found that once we were familiar with the system and its efficiency, we welcomed the system's simplicity.

Money Back Guarantee

ITP does not offer a money back guarantee, but because the company does not require its customers to sign contracts, cancelling is a relatively straightforward process. All cancellations must be done by the account holder by phone. If you cancel mid-month, you will not receive a refund for the remaining time, so it's best to cancel shortly before your pay cycle is complete. When cancelling your ITP service you will be asked to return the hardware, or you will be charged $99.99 for the hardware.

Summary

• Very competitive pricing
• Quick email response time
• Simple to use control panel
• No contracts required