diff --git a/speech/google/cloud/speech/metadata.py b/speech/google/cloud/speech/metadata.py
index 89a8ff3369d9..2cbc285c16c6 100644
--- a/speech/google/cloud/speech/metadata.py
+++ b/speech/google/cloud/speech/metadata.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ def from_api_repr(cls, response):
         """
         last_update = _rfc3339_to_datetime(response['lastUpdateTime'])
         start_time = _rfc3339_to_datetime(response['startTime'])
-        progress_percent = response['progressPercent']
+        progress_percent = response.get('progressPercent')
 
         return cls(last_update, start_time, progress_percent)
 
diff --git a/system_tests/speech.py b/system_tests/speech.py
index d70ebcff997e..56c2f2ad7bc5 100644
--- a/system_tests/speech.py
+++ b/system_tests/speech.py
@@ -22,10 +22,33 @@
 
 from system_test_utils import unique_resource_id
 from retry import RetryErrors
+from retry import RetryResult
 
 AUDIO_FILE = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'data', 'hello.wav')
 
 
+def _operation_complete(result):
+    """Return operation result."""
+    return result
+
+
+def _wait_until_complete(operation, max_attempts=5):
+    """Wait until an operation has completed.
+
+    :type operation: :class:`google.cloud.operation.Operation`
+    :param operation: Operation that has not completed.
+
+    :type max_attempts: int
+    :param max_attempts: (Optional) The maximum number of times to check if
+                         the operation has completed. Defaults to 5.
+
+    :rtype: bool
+    :returns: Boolean indicating if the operation is complete.
+    """
+    retry = RetryResult(_operation_complete, max_tries=max_attempts)
+    return retry(operation.poll)()
+
+
 class Config(object):
     """Run-time configuration to be modified at set-up.
 
@@ -34,10 +57,12 @@ class Config(object):
     """
     CLIENT = None
     TEST_BUCKET = None
+    USE_GAX = True
 
 
 def setUpModule():
     Config.CLIENT = speech.Client()
+    Config.USE_GAX = Config.CLIENT._use_gax
     # Now create a bucket for GCS stored content.
     storage_client = storage.Client()
     bucket_name = 'new' + unique_resource_id()
@@ -72,12 +97,24 @@ def _make_sync_request(self, content=None, source_uri=None,
                                source_uri=source_uri,
                                encoding=speech.Encoding.LINEAR16,
                                sample_rate=16000)
-        result = client.sync_recognize(sample,
-                                       language_code='en-US',
-                                       max_alternatives=max_alternatives,
-                                       profanity_filter=True,
-                                       speech_context=['Google', 'cloud'])
-        return result
+        return client.sync_recognize(sample,
+                                     language_code='en-US',
+                                     max_alternatives=max_alternatives,
+                                     profanity_filter=True,
+                                     speech_context=['Google', 'cloud'])
+
+    def _make_async_request(self, content=None, source_uri=None,
+                            max_alternatives=None):
+        client = Config.CLIENT
+        sample = client.sample(content=content,
+                               source_uri=source_uri,
+                               encoding=speech.Encoding.LINEAR16,
+                               sample_rate=16000)
+        return client.async_recognize(sample,
+                                      language_code='en-US',
+                                      max_alternatives=max_alternatives,
+                                      profanity_filter=True,
+                                      speech_context=['Google', 'cloud'])
 
     def _check_best_results(self, results):
         top_result = results[0]
@@ -109,3 +146,46 @@ def test_sync_recognize_gcs_file(self):
         result = self._make_sync_request(source_uri=source_uri,
                                          max_alternatives=1)
         self._check_best_results(result)
+
+    def test_async_recognize_local_file(self):
+        if Config.USE_GAX:
+            self.skipTest('async_recognize gRPC not yet implemented.')
+        with open(AUDIO_FILE, 'rb') as file_obj:
+            content = file_obj.read()
+
+        operation = self._make_async_request(content=content,
+                                             max_alternatives=2)
+
+        _wait_until_complete(operation)
+
+        self.assertEqual(len(operation.results), 2)
+        self._check_best_results(operation.results)
+
+        results = operation.results
+        self.assertIsInstance(results[1], Transcript)
+        self.assertEqual(results[1].transcript, self.ASSERT_TEXT)
+        self.assertEqual(results[1].confidence, None)
+
+    def test_async_recognize_gcs_file(self):
+        if Config.USE_GAX:
+            self.skipTest('async_recognize gRPC not yet implemented.')
+        bucket_name = Config.TEST_BUCKET.name
+        blob_name = 'hello.wav'
+        blob = Config.TEST_BUCKET.blob(blob_name)
+        self.to_delete_by_case.append(blob)  # Clean-up.
+        with open(AUDIO_FILE, 'rb') as file_obj:
+            blob.upload_from_file(file_obj)
+
+        source_uri = 'gs://%s/%s' % (bucket_name, blob_name)
+        operation = self._make_async_request(source_uri=source_uri,
+                                             max_alternatives=2)
+
+        _wait_until_complete(operation)
+
+        self.assertEqual(len(operation.results), 2)
+        self._check_best_results(operation.results)
+
+        results = operation.results
+        self.assertIsInstance(results[1], Transcript)
+        self.assertEqual(results[1].transcript, self.ASSERT_TEXT)
+        self.assertEqual(results[1].confidence, None)