1. A method of recognizing speech, the method comprising: receiving packets associated with input speech transmitted over a link at a buffering and decoding unit; after waiting a predetermined time, generating from the received packets a speech vector and data identifying corrupt or likely to be corrupt features in the speech vector; transmitting the speech vector and data to a speech recognition unit; comparing the speech vector to stored recognition models based on non-corrupt features in the speech vector; and either recognizing the speech input or requesting a retransmission of at least one packet based on the comparison.