The disclosure relates to systems, methods and apparatus to convert speech to text and vice versa. One apparatus comprises a vocoder, a speech to text conversion engine, a text to speech conversion engine, and a user interface. The vocoder is operable to convert speech signals into packets and convert packets into speech signals. The speech to text conversion engine is operable to convert speech to text. The text to speech conversion engine is operable to convert text to speech. The user interface is operable to receive a user selection of a mode from among a plurality of modes, wherein a first mode enables the speech to text conversion engine, a second mode enables the text to speech conversion engine, and a third mode enables the speech to text conversion engine and the text to speech conversion engine.