A method of restoring user equipment control in the presence of communication link failure between a network node that provides control of packet switched connections and a network node that provides control of circuit switched connections, the method comprising: using a serving node of a first type in communication with a node of a second type to provide a communication service to a user equipment, wherein the serving node of the first type controls one of packet switched connections and circuit switched connections, and the node of the second type controls a different one of packet switched connections and circuit switched connections; detecting a failure of one or more links that enable communication between the serving node of the first type and the node of the second type; identifying another node, wherein the identified node is to be used as a first relaying node and is one of: another node of the first type that has fully operational links with the node of the second type; and another node of the second type that has fully operational links with the serving node of the first type; performing signaling to establish the identified node as the first relaying node; and continuing to provide the communication service to the user equipment by using the first relaying node to communicate one or more messages (300-1, 300-3, 400-1, 400-3, 500-2, 500-3, 500-4, 600-2, 600-3, 600-4, 600-5, 600-7, 600-8, 600-9, 600-10) between the serving node of the first type and the node of the second type, wherein the serving node of the first type is a serving mobility management entity; the first relaying node is a relaying mobility management entity; and the serving and relaying mobility management entities are in a same mobility management entity pool , and wherein the node of the second type is a serving mobile switching center. using a serving node of a first type in communication with a node of a second type to provide a communication service to a user equipment, wherein the serving node of the first type controls one of packet switched connections and circuit switched connections, and the node of the second type controls a different one of packet switched connections and circuit switched connections; detecting a failure of one or more links that enable communication between the serving node of the first type and the node of the second type; identifying another node, wherein the identified node is to be used as a first relaying node and is one of: another node of the first type that has fully operational links with the node of the second type; and another node of the second type that has fully operational links with the serving node of the first type; another node of the first type that has fully operational links with the node of the second type; and another node of the second type that has fully operational links with the serving node of the first type; performing signaling to establish the identified node as the first relaying node; and continuing to provide the communication service to the user equipment by using the first relaying node to communicate one or more messages (300-1, 300-3, 400-1, 400-3, 500-2, 500-3, 500-4, 600-2, 600-3, 600-4, 600-5, 600-7, 600-8, 600-9, 600-10) between the serving node of the first type and the node of the second type, wherein the serving node of the first type is a serving mobility management entity; the first relaying node is a relaying mobility management entity; and the serving and relaying mobility management entities are in a same mobility management entity pool , and wherein the node of the second type is a serving mobile switching center. <EOS>