A method of communicating speech across a communication link using very low digital data bandwidth is disclosed, having the steps of: translating speech into text at a source terminal; communicating the text across the communication link to a destination terminal; and translating the text into reproduced speech at the destination terminal. In a preferred embodiment, a speech profile corresponding to the speaker is used to reproduce the speech at the destination terminal so that the reproduced speech more closely approximates the original speech of the speaker. A default voice profile is used to recreate speech when a user profile is unavailable. User specific profiles can be created during training prior to communication or can be created during communication from actual speech. The user profiles can be updated to improve accuracy of recognition and to enhance reproduction of speech. The updated user profiles are transmitted to the destination terminals as needed.