Colorado vNet will immediately resume operations with certified dealers worldwide, the company formally announced today.
“Colorado vNet is back and ready to attack the marketplace,” said Charlie Porritt, CEO of Colorado vNet parent company Russound, in a conference call with reporters.
Continuing what has been an on-again, off-again tale for the brand, last week a dealer leaked a confidential memo from Porritt that announced the home automation brand’s revival.
Russound first tried to save Colorado vNet by purchasing its assets back in 2009. Apparently the turnaround of the company—combined with the struggling economy—proved to be too much, and at the end of last year, Colorado vNet began officially “winding down” operations to focus on R&D and reallocate intellectual property elsewhere.
At the time, VP of sales and marketing Petro Shimonishi estimated that approximately 450 dealers would be affected by the decision. Apparently, these dealers went above and beyond Russound’s expectations in their response, as the outcry was ultimately responsible for the sudden decision to bring Colorado vNet back.
According to Porritt, they received “overwhelming feedback from dealers and reps that no other product fills this need.”
Response from reps about the sudden about-face has been well received; although, some gripes have emerged from the dealer side, Porritt said.
Part of the announcement included details that the iPad app Colorado vNet has been working on for some time should be available in the next 90 days. The app will be audio only at first, but the automation and lighting control company hopes to roll out a sub-systems and lighting phase by the end of the year, and in a third phase, home theater control. An IP-based digital music streamer should also be ready to ship this year, details of which are set for release in mid-March.
Overall, Russound and Colorado vNet are looking to move past the communication breakdown in which this news came out.
“For us, the past is the past, and we are looking forward to driving this thing forward and leaving this [incident] behind us,” Porritt said.
