A noise-dependent classifier for a speech recognition system includes a recognizer (15) that provides scores and score differences of two closest in-vocabulary words from a received utterance. A noise detector (17) detects the noise level of a pre-speech portion of the utterance. A classifier (19) is responsive to the detected noise level and scores and noise dependent model for making decisions for accepting or rejecting the utterance as a recognized word depending on the noise-dependent model and the scores.
System and method of noise-dependent classification