Why Chrome Telecom is different, and how to check it for yourself

Get three quotes for business phones or IT support and they’ll look much the same.

Similar handsets, the same Microsoft licences, broadband over the same national networks. The prices land within a few pounds of each other.

None of the quotes tell you who’ll pick up the phone in two years’ time. Or whether they’ll know your setup when they do.

This article sets out what’s different about Chrome Telecom, with the evidence behind each point. It also shows you how to check the same things with any provider you’re comparing.

You should be able to use it even if you never speak to us.

Updated 30 September 2026. Written by John McGilveray at Chrome Telecom. We’re a Cyber Essentials certified UK managed service provider, working from Whiteley in Hampshire and from Leeds.

Why every quote looks the same

Business technology has settled down. Most providers, Chrome included, supply the same Microsoft 365 licences and similar desk phones. The connections run over the same national networks. That’s good news for you. The equipment works, and you’re unlikely to pick a bad handset.

It also means the brochure tells you very little. When the kit is the same, the experience comes down to the people. People are harder to compare from a quote.

“Technology changes. The basics of looking after customers don’t,” says Daniel Woodham, Managing Director.

Here’s what’s different at Chrome. Under each point is what to ask any provider, so you can compare like with like.

One team for IT, cyber security and communications

Say your phones, broadband, IT and cyber security sit with four separate companies. A fault that crosses two of them tends to bounce between them. Calls dropping because the broadband is struggling is the usual example.

At Chrome, one team looks after all of it, so a fault is ours to find whichever service it started in. You can move one service at a time rather than everything at once.

We’ve written a longer guide on getting IT, cyber security and phones from one supplier if you want the detail.

Ask any provider: who owns a fault that crosses two services, and can I start with one service and add others later?

Still run by the person who started it

Chrome was set up in 2014 by Daniel Woodham and ran from his home for the first year. Twelve years on, he’s still the Managing Director. The standards you’ll get were set by someone who still answers for them.

That’s worth checking with any provider. Plenty have been bought or merged in the last few years, and the name on your contract isn’t always the name on the support desk two years later.

Ask any provider: who founded the company, are they still involved, and has it changed hands?

The same people, year after year

Most of our team came up through the business rather than arriving fully formed. Our in-house academy trains people from junior roles into engineers, account managers and team leaders, and they tend to stay.

That’s why the same names keep appearing in our reviews. Jake, Mark and Kallum are mentioned again and again, often by customers who’ve dealt with them more than once.

It matters. The person who installed your system fixes it far quicker than someone reading your file for the first time.

Ask any provider: how long has my contact worked there, and how many people left the support team last year?

Chrome Telecom reviews: what customers say

Chrome has a 4.9 rating on Google from 384 reviews, as of September 2026. 

Google groups what reviewers mention such as “helpful staff” appearing in 148 of them, followed by “phone system installation” and “technical support”.

We publish the reviews on our own site exactly as written, typos included. The names in them are real engineers, and you can ring and ask for them.

A score on its own doesn’t tell you much. Volume and recency tell you more. A 4.9 from 20 reviews written three years ago means something different from a 4.9 from several hundred that keep arriving.

Ask any provider: can I see your last ten Google reviews, and do they mention people by name?

Four of our six awards are for how we treat people

Chrome has won six industry awards since 2019, been highly commended several times and reached the finals fifteen times. Four of the six wins are people awards:

• The Sunday Times Best Places to Work, 2024
• Comms Business Awards, The Workplace Award, 2025
• Channel Champions, HR, People and Culture Team, 2024
• Channel Champions, Reseller Sales Support Team, 2025

The other two are Comms Business Awards Reseller of the Year (SMB) in 2023 and Pragma New Reseller of the Year in 2019.

We list wins, commendations and finalist places separately because they aren’t the same thing. An award is a snapshot of one year. The reviews are the running total, and they’re the better measure if you’re deciding whether to work with us.

Ask any provider: which awards did you win, rather than reach the final of, and what were they for?

Certified in the thing we advise on

Chrome holds Cyber Essentials certification. It’s the UK government-backed standard for the basic controls every business should have in place. We help customers get certified themselves. It would be odd to advise you on it without holding it.

Ask any provider: are you Cyber Essentials certified, and when was it last renewed?

Support you can measure

94% of customer issues are resolved within an hour. We publish that figure on our homepage. It’s the one we’d rather be judged on, because it’s the one you’ll notice.

Ask any provider: what proportion of issues do you resolve within an hour, and how do you measure it?

What we’re not

A fair comparison cuts both ways, so here’s what Chrome doesn’t offer.

We’re not always the cheapest quote. If price is the only thing you’re comparing, there will be a lower number somewhere.

We don’t own the networks your calls and data run over. No provider our size does. We choose the carriers and platforms. When one of them has a fault, chasing it and keeping you updated is still our job.

Our support desk is open Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm. Whether cover applies outside those hours depends on the services you take and your agreement, and we’ll confirm yours in writing before you need it. Round-the-clock monitoring is available for IT customers.

We’re set up for businesses with a team, from a single office to several sites. If you’re a one-person business who wants a handset and nothing else, a simpler supplier may suit you better.

How to compare providers

Where we work

Our head office is in Whiteley, Hampshire, between Fareham and Southampton, and we have a second office in Leeds. We look after businesses across the UK from both. Remote support runs from the office, and our engineers travel to wherever the installation or the fault is.

What to do next

If you’re comparing providers, use the questions above on every quote, including ours. If you’d like to see how we’d handle your setup, book a free Chrome audit. We’ll review what you have and explain the options in plain English. You’ll get a written summary whether or not you go ahead.