Abstract: A portable radio may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter, an RF receiver, and an audio input transducer. A controller may store command messages and speech messages, implement a stand-alone, speech recognition and text-to-speech (TTS) function for the stored command messages and stored speech messages. The controller may also control at least one of an RE transmitter and RF receiver of a remote radio based upon an input command matching one of the stored command messages using the audio input transducer and the stand-alone speech recognition and TTS function, and convert a speech message matching one of the stored speech messages into a text message. The RF transmitter may send the text message to the remote receiver.