> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://assemblyai.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Should I use Speaker Labels or Multi-channel?

The choice depends on your audio source:

### Use Multi-channel when:

You have audio where each speaker is recorded on a separate channel, such as:

* Twilio calls with configured channel separation
* Call center software that exports multiple audio channels
* Any recording where speakers are pre-separated into channels

Multichannel is more accurate since each speaker's audio is processed independently.

<Note>
  Multichannel audio will not automatically separate multiple speakers on the
  same channel. If you have multiple speakers on a single channel, speaker
  labels are required for speaker separation.
</Note>

### Use Speaker Labels when:

You have single-channel audio with multiple speakers, such as:

* Standard audio recordings with multiple participants
* Calls recorded as a single track
* Any audio where speakers share the same channel

For speaker labels, you can improve accuracy by specifying the expected number of speakers in advance [using the `speakers_expected` parameter](/api-reference/transcripts/submit#request.body.speakers_expected), or set a range of possible speakers [using the `speaker_options` parameter](/pre-recorded-audio/label-speakers#configuration).