StorageMart, a Columbia, Mo.-based self-storage operator with 165 facilities in Canada and the United States, has agreed to merge its PhoneSmart call-center business with the INSOMNIAC Live! call center operated by OpenTech Alliance Inc., a Phoenix-based provider of self-serve kiosks, call-center services and other technology for self-storage businesses. The merger is expected to be complete by the end of the year, and the combined call center will operate under the INSOMNIAC Live! name, according to a press release.

Representatives from both companies will work together during the next few months to combine best practices, processes, staff and technology, company officials said. PhoneSmart also offers sales training.

"We have always had the utmost respect for the StorageMart and PhoneSmart organizations. They have years of experience operating a call center in our industry and even more time operating self-storage facilities,” said Robert Chiti, president and CEO of OpenTech. “Their experience is invaluable in our mission to build the highest quality call center in the industry."

The move will effectively end StorageMart’s participation as a call-center provider. "The storage industry is becoming ever more competitive; therefore, PhoneSmart has made the decision to exit the third-party call-center business in order to focus exclusively on StorageMart branded stores,” said Cris Burnam, president of StorageMart. “Our customers are the greatest; but long term, the advantages of OpenTech's technology platform cannot be denied. We felt it was best for us and our customers to combine our third-party call center with OpenTech. We have been looking for ways to work together for several years, and now the timing is right."

Founded in 1999, StorageMart serves more than 75,000 self-storage customers across Canada and the United States. The company operates in Chinese, English, Punjabi, Quebecois French and Spanish.

OpenTech provides several models of INSOMNIAC self-serve kiosks as well as a range of self-storage rental solutions including the INSOMNIAC Live! Call Center, INSOMNIAC Online Web and mobile applications, LiveAgent! software products, and the INSOMNIAC ILock Security System, all available through the company's self-storage cloud.