A method, apparatus and system that receives speech commands at a remote control device microphone, digitizes those input speech commands, compresses the digitized speech commands, multiplexes control commands with the compressed digitized speech commands, and transmits the compressed digitized speech commands to an electronic device, such as a digital home communication terminal (DCHT). The electronic device decompresses and interprets the speech commands to allow the remote control operator to control the electronic device. Because speech recognition is performed at the electronic device, rather than at the remote control device, the remote control does not have to interpret and transmit infrared signals that represent user commands. This simplifies the processing and voice recognition capabilities required by the remote control. Additionally, because the electronic device processes the digitized voice received from the remote control device, the electronic device can negate the effect of sounds, such as television audio, likely captured by the microphone on the remote control device. This results in a great capability of the electronic device to interpret user commands.