One of the methods for improving transmitted speech quality is efficient encoding of transients. The majority of currently used speech codecs employ the parametric approach, thus they do not differentiate between transients and other signal components. A sine+noise+transients signal model, proposed earlier as a tool for wideband audio signal encoding, seems to be a promising solution for enhancing signal quality in speech coding. Methods of transient identifying for an efficient transform‐domain encoding of transients has to be chosen carefully. Different transient detection algorithms are described in literature, most of them optimized for musical signals. The methods do not ensure efficient transient detection in speech signal, due to the different character of musical signals and speech. This paper provides a comparison of several transient detection methods, mostly based on evaluation of signal energy, that are now primarily used for musical signals. Their efficiency and application to transient detection in speech are evaluated and discussed. Differences between transient detection in wideband musical signals and speech are pointed out. Modifications to existing algorithms are proposed, allowing efficient transient detection and encoding in the proposed, wideband speech codec. [Research funded by the Polish Ministry of Education and Science within Grant No. 3 T11D 004 28.]