Method and system for maintaining device service in a network

A method for managing wireless communication service comprising:

• providing, by a first radio access network (RAN), a plurality of base stations each configured to provide a respective coverage area in which to serve user equipment devices (UEs) according to a first air interface protocol, wherein the first RAN is interconnected with a fallback RAN configured to serve UEs according to a second air interface protocol;
• the first RAN detecting that, when a UE served by a base station of the plurality seeks to initiate a voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the first RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the first RAN, wherein the base station does not support an inter-RAN fallback process in which the first RAN passes signaling between the fallback RAN and UEs served by the first RAN to facilitate transition of UEs from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the first RAN to being served with voice calls according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN;
• and
• in response to detecting that, when the UE seeks to initiate the voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the first RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the first RAN, and further in response to the base station not supporting the inter-RAN fallback process, the first RAN causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service.

A radio access network (RAN) comprising a plurality of base stations each operable to provide a respective coverage area in which to serve user equipment devices (UEs) according to a first air interface protocol, wherein the RAN has a communication interface with a fallback RAN, wherein the RAN is configured to pass circuit-switched fallback (CSFB) signaling, via the communication interface, between the fallback RAN and UEs served by the RAN, to facilitate a CSFB process in which UEs transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the RAN to being served with voice calls according to a second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN, and wherein the first air interface protocol is different than the second air interface protocol, the RAN further comprising:

• a controller configured to:
• detect that, when a UE served by a base station of the plurality seeks to initiate a voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the RAN, wherein the base station does not support the CSFB process;
• and
• in response to detecting that, when the UE seeks to initiate the voice call, the UE will transition from being served according to the first air interface protocol by the RAN to be served according to the second air interface protocol by the fallback RAN in order to initiate the voice call directly via the fallback RAN rather than initiate the voice call via the RAN, and further in response to the base station not supporting the CSFB process, transmit to the UE a directive for causing the UE to (i) not transition to be served by the fallback RAN and to instead stay served by the base station and (ii) set itself to engage in the voice call using voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service.