1. A method for controlling a mute function in a telephone device, the method comprising the steps of: while the mute function is active, voice recognition software in the telephone device processing sound detected by a microphone in the telephone device to recognize and identify one or more specific words as having been spoken by a specific person and not by another person, and in response, the telephone device activating an alarm in the telephone device to communicate that the mute function is active, wherein the voice recognition software was trained, prior to the sound having been detected, to differentiate the one or more specific words spoken by the specific person from the same one or more specific words spoken by other people, wherein the method further comprises: while the mute function is active, ascertaining that a magnitude of an analog signal representing the detected sound exceeds a predetermined threshold, below which the detected sound is identified as being noise, as part of the identifying that the specific word is spoken by the specific person, wherein the activating the alarm is responsive to both the ascertaining and the identification of the one or more specific words spoken by the specific person.