Yes, I believe the platform is free is you trade 25K shares/month or have an account of over $1 million. On top of that you pay for whatever else you want/need, like Radar Screen, ECN books, OPRA, etc.
I have rarely had to call in to speak with anyone as the platform/datafeed is very reliable and I seldom have problems/questions. When I have called the phone was answered quickly but sometimes you have to go through several people to get to someone knowledgeable enough to answer an advanced question.
Newly