If you want a permanent, unique, hangout URL, set up a Google+ event which finishes in 100 years and make Hangout the location. Voila - the hangout URL persists even if no-one's in it.
I think this works better for me:<p><a href="http://hangouts.google.com/start" rel="nofollow">http://hangouts.google.com/start</a><p>It is better for me because, now that I've visited the URL, if I start typing 'hangout' in the address bar, this comes up first for me and I just hit enter (and it's easy to remember). It's the little things.
I don't understand, how is this faster? There is nothing on the page but a button that says Start. When I click it, it takes me to <a href="https://plus.google.com/hangouts/_" rel="nofollow">https://plus.google.com/hangouts/_</a> which then redirects to a page that says "Please wait" for about 5 seconds. After than I get another redirect to a google page asking me to install a plugin. Why do I need a plugin to use Hangouts? At the moment I just open my Gmail tab. What problem exactly are you trying to solve here?
The Hangouts UI is a disgrace to Google. I can't count the # of times I've tried to get even technical people to join a Hangout and it took an extra 5-10 minutes to sort out. Finding the initiation button is horribly hard, the UI is clumsy and unintuitive for those used to Skype or other video calling tools, and even inviting a new person to a hangout is maddeningly hard, particularly if they've got multiple Google IDs.
If you have Alfred, this is a great workflow for this problem: <a href="https://github.com/wallace/google_hangout_workflow" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/wallace/google_hangout_workflow</a>
Not working for me on Chrome 37 OS X, interestingly enough. Error in console is 'Uncaught ReferenceError: gapi is not defined'. My bet is on an HTTP/HTTPS discrepancy, but I'm not sure.
Is there a way to do a minimal-click start to Google Hangouts on Air. I really like it for screencasting when I'm giving a lecture but it takes a few minutes to set up and get going.