Apparatuses and methods for facilitating voice communication services in networks and systems

A device, comprising:

• a processing system including a processor;
• and
• a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
• maintaining a fallback-eligibility status for a first radio access technology (RAT) resource for a coverage area, the fallback-eligibility status being based on one or more network performance metrics;
• determining that a first user equipment (UE) is attempting to initiate a voice call while the first UE is operating in a standalone (SA) network associated with a second RAT;
• transmitting a message to the first UE indicating that fallback to a network associated with the first RAT for voice is unsuitable based on the fallback-eligibility status;
• and
• establishing voice connectivity for the voice call via an over-the-top (OTT) application using a data connection maintained on the SA network associated with the second RAT, wherein the OTT application comprises a first instance installed on the first UE and a second instance installed on a second UE involved in the voice call.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:

• determining whether a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) resource for a coverage area is available for fallback based on one or more LTE performance metrics, resulting in a first determination;
• determining that a first user equipment (UE) is attempting to initiate a voice call while the first UE is operating in a fifth generation (5G) standalone (SA) network;
• transmitting a message to the first UE indicating that fallback to the LTE network for voice is unsuitable based on the first determination;
• and
• establishing voice connectivity for the voice call via an over-the-top (OTT) application using a data connection maintained on the 5G SA network, wherein the OTT application comprises a first instance installed on the first UE and a second instance installed on a second UE involved in the voice call.