A system, comprising: a controller comprising a computer processor; a frequency transformer configured to convert a speech signal into a spectrum of frequencies; and a spectral compressor regulated by the computer processor and electrically coupled to the frequency transformer, where the spectral compressor is configured to conditionally compress a pre-selected high frequency band of the speech signal, and map the compressed high frequency band to a lower frequency range that lies between a lower cutoff frequency and an upper cutoff frequency of a communication frequency bandwidth, wherein the compression is conditional upon a determination from the controller that, upon analyzing an average signal-to-noise ratio of the speech signal in the lower frequency range before and after such compression, the average signal-to-noise ratio of the speech signal in the lower frequency range before compression is less than the estimated average signal-to-noise ratio of the speech signal in the lower frequency range after compression. a controller comprising a computer processor; a frequency transformer configured to convert a speech signal into a spectrum of frequencies; and a spectral compressor regulated by the computer processor and electrically coupled to the frequency transformer, where the spectral compressor is configured to conditionally compress a pre-selected high frequency band of the speech signal, and map the compressed high frequency band to a lower frequency range that lies between a lower cutoff frequency and an upper cutoff frequency of a communication frequency bandwidth, wherein the compression is conditional upon a determination from the controller that, upon analyzing an average signal-to-noise ratio of the speech signal in the lower frequency range before and after such compression, the average signal-to-noise ratio of the speech signal in the lower frequency range before compression is less than the estimated average signal-to-noise ratio of the speech signal in the lower frequency range after compression. where the spectral compressor is configured to conditionally compress a pre-selected high frequency band of the speech signal, and map the compressed high frequency band to a lower frequency range that lies between a lower cutoff frequency and an upper cutoff frequency of a communication frequency bandwidth, wherein the compression is conditional upon a determination from the controller that, upon analyzing an average signal-to-noise ratio of the speech signal in the lower frequency range before and after such compression, the average signal-to-noise ratio of the speech signal in the lower frequency range before compression is less than the estimated average signal-to-noise ratio of the speech signal in the lower frequency range after compression. conditionally compress a pre-selected high frequency band of the speech signal, and map the compressed high frequency band to a lower frequency range that lies between a lower cutoff frequency and an upper cutoff frequency of a communication frequency bandwidth, wherein the compression is conditional upon a determination from the controller that, upon analyzing an average signal-to-noise ratio of the speech signal in the lower frequency range before and after such compression, the average signal-to-noise ratio of the speech signal in the lower frequency range before compression is less than the estimated average signal-to-noise ratio of the speech signal in the lower frequency range after compression.