1. A voice-controlled messaging system comprising: a voice messaging system comprising an interface to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a processor and a data storage component; and a stand-alone speech recognition system coupled to the voice messaging system via a control link and comprising a speech recognition application and a voice-navigable messaging application, the control link providing a communications pathway for out-of-band TCP/IP messages between the voice messaging system and the stand alone speech recognition system; wherein the voice messaging system is interfaced to the PSTN and is configured to: receive an incoming call from an originating point, via the PSTN interface; send a first out-of-band message over the control link, via a TCP/IP protocol, to the stand-alone speech recognition system providing call setup data and requesting that an audio path between the stand-alone speech recognition system and the voice messaging system be opened; pass control of the incoming call, via the audio path, to the stand-alone speech recognition system; and receive, via the control link, a second out-of-band TCP/IP message from the stand-alone speech recognition system; and wherein the stand-alone speech recognition system is configured to: receive the first out-of-band TCP/IP message from the voice messaging system; open the audio path; receive control of the incoming call; elicit a voice response from the originating point; receive and interpret the voice response via the speech recognition application; correlate the voice response interpretation to an executable command of the voice-navigable messaging application; provide the executable command to the voice-navigable messaging application such that the incoming call is processed; and send, via the control link, the second out-of-band TCP/IP message, which comprises an executable command, to the voice messaging system.
1. A voice-controlled messaging system comprising: a voice messaging system comprising an interface to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a processor and a data storage component; and a stand-alone speech recognition system coupled to the voice messaging system via a control link and comprising a speech recognition application and a voice-navigable messaging application, the control link providing a communications pathway for out-of-band TCP/IP messages between the voice messaging system and the stand alone speech recognition system; wherein the voice messaging system is interfaced to the PSTN and is configured to: receive an incoming call from an originating point, via the PSTN interface; send a first out-of-band message over the control link, via a TCP/IP protocol, to the stand-alone speech recognition system providing call setup data and requesting that an audio path between the stand-alone speech recognition system and the voice messaging system be opened; pass control of the incoming call, via the audio path, to the stand-alone speech recognition system; and receive, via the control link, a second out-of-band TCP/IP message from the stand-alone speech recognition system; and wherein the stand-alone speech recognition system is configured to: receive the first out-of-band TCP/IP message from the voice messaging system; open the audio path; receive control of the incoming call; elicit a voice response from the originating point; receive and interpret the voice response via the speech recognition application; correlate the voice response interpretation to an executable command of the voice-navigable messaging application; provide the executable command to the voice-navigable messaging application such that the incoming call is processed; and send, via the control link, the second out-of-band TCP/IP message, which comprises an executable command, to the voice messaging system. 2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the executable command comprised within the second out-of-band TCP/IP message causes the voice message system processor to retrieve data from the storage component and provide the data to the stand-alone speech recognition system via the control link.