Abstract: An accessory voice operated unit for a cellular telephone is disclosed. The accessory unit includes a speech signal input/output unit, a voice recognition unit and a processing unit. The voice recognition unit recognizes trained words within the speech signal and the processing unit has telephone numbers associated with the trained words. The processing unit provides standard telephony dialing signals when a trained word has been recognized, wherein the dialing signals correspond to the telephone number associated with the recognized trained word. The accessory unit also includes a hands-free conversation unit which provides hands-free conversation. The processing unit connects the input/output unit to the voice recognition unit during a dialing mode after which, during a conversation mode, the processing unit connects the input/output unit to the hands-free conversation unit.