22. An environmental condition detector receiving at least one audible verbal command to test the functionality of the detector comprising: a housing, at least one sensor for detecting an indoor presence of an environmental condition in the ambient vicinity of the detector, a first electronic circuit for activation of an audio output transducer to emit an alarm having an audible tonal pattern for the duration of the detection of the environmental condition; speech recognition circuits for receiving and electronically recognizing audible verbal commands and thereby initiating at least one diagnostic test of at least one electronic component of the environmental condition detector, wherein a first received and recognized verbal command prepares the detector to receive and recognize at least a second verbal command; after reception and recognition the first verbal command, if a second verbal command is not received and recognized within a preset time interval, the detector re-enters a waiting mode to receive a first verbal command; a power source selected from a group including a battery, a non-battery power supply, and a non-battery power supply with battery backup; the sensor comprises at least one of a smoke sensor, a fire sensor, a carbon monoxide sensor, a heat sensor, or a motion sensor; the housing contains at least the sensor, the first electronic circuit, and the audio output transducer; and the detector functions as a stand-alone unit.
25. The environmental condition detector of claim 22 which includes verbally responsive circuits to terminate an output audible tonal pattern for a prescribed time period upon reception of at least one audible verbal command uttered during prescribed silence periods within the audible tonal pattern.